South Korea's two main parties blamed each other Tuesday for a delay in passing a bill aimed at supporting the semiconductor industry, after they failed to reach an agreement on more flexible working hours at chip firms.
In a sub-committee meeting of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee held the previous day, the two major parties disagreed on a clause that would exempt semiconductor workers from the country’s 52-hour workweek limit. A bill is required to receive approval from a related committee before it can be voted on by the whole legislature.
The government and the ruling People Power Party have voiced strong support for the working hours exemption, highlighting the need to adopt greater flexibility for research and development in the industry.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and other minor liberal parties have called for the need to stick with the labor law set by the preceding liberal administration and pass a version of the bill omitting the clause first before revisiting the workweek issue.
People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong on Tuesday accused the Democratic Party of responding to the local semiconductor industry’s calls for growth with the “silent treatment,” while questioning the sincerity of main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s recent pledges to support the economy.
“(The Democratic Party) has shown silent treatment toward the desperate request of the local semiconductor industry which hopes to boost its competitiveness,” he said during a ruling party leadership meeting.
“(Democratic Party) Chair Lee Jae-myung’s remarks saying that he is pro-business and pro-growth is a lie,” he added, pointing to the main opposition’s recent labeling of the Democratic Party as “economy-focused.”
Lee said that he agreed with opinions that flexible working hours should be adopted for high-earning semiconductor researchers, if they agree with the conditions, during an intra-party debate held Feb. 3. The statement had fed hopes for the conservative bloc that he would agree to the passage of the bill that has been stuck in a limbo since last year due to political differences between the rival parties.
Echoing Kweon's sentiments, People Power Party interim leader Kwon Young-se, in the afternoon, nodded towards the reshaping of the semiconductor industry by artificial intelligence, saying that the passage of the bill containing the flexible workweek clause is necessary to foster the local chip sector.
Lee shot back saying that the disagreement over the workweek clause was due to an “irresponsible tantrum” displayed by the ruling party.
“We were unable to make progress on the special semiconductor bill due to the irresponsible tantrum thrown by the ruling party. What is crucial in the bill are the clauses that could support the semiconductor industry, which currently faces a crisis, and those parts were agreed upon by both the ruling and the main opposition parties,” he said via Facebook.
Lee claimed that a reasonable course of action for the two major parties would be to “swiftly pass” a version of the bill that only contains clauses supported by both sides.
Both parties have agreed on other clauses in the bill, such as providing financial support from the government for manufacturers in building chipmaking infrastructure.
Acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok expressed hopes that the rival parties would swiftly narrow their differences over the special bill, during a Cabinet meeting held in the morning.
"Concerns that the bill could encourage prolonged working hours if the clause allows (the semiconductor industry) to be exempt from the 52-hour work week system could be resolved if we communicate with each other sincerely," he said.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee, which is a separate parliamentary standing committee, passed an amendment to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. This focuses on expanding tax benefits for companies that invest in facilities tied to industries including semiconductors and secondary batteries.
If the bill is passed in a plenary vote, the tax credit rate for conglomerates will rise to 20 percent from the current 15 percent. The corresponding figure for small and medium-sized businesses will inch up to 30 percent from 25 percent.
The latest partisan disagreement over the special semiconductor bill comes amid growing concerns about potential tariff measures targeting imports of semiconductor devices to the US. While the second Donald Trump administration has yet to announce such tariff measures, Korean chipmakers are closely monitoring related developments that could weigh down the top export item in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
