Seoul Weighs Emergency Arbitration to Head Off Samsung Electronics Strike

Officials in South Korea are exploring extraordinary measures to stop a possible walkout at Samsung Electronics, the republic's largest employer and its top maker of memory semiconductors.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok cautioned that halting operations at Samsung's chip fabs for even one day could inflict severe losses on the national economy.

Company management and the workers' union are scheduled to restart wage negotiations under government mediation, with both sides seeking to avoid a production stoppage.

Seoul may turn to emergency arbitration, a step that would suspend strike activity for up to 30 days.

Samsung's weight in the country's trade accounts is outsized: its exports alone represent nearly one quarter of everything South Korea ships abroad.