SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap
Online debate is spreading over SK hynix’s hefty employee bonuses, which are expected to reach around 700 million won ($477,000) per person based on a simple calculation, with some even calling for the payouts to be shared among the public.
Such claims, which many deem to be far-fetched, have been circulating online as Korea’s two memory chip giants — SK hynix and Samsung Electronics — head toward record earnings this year on the back of a global chip supercycle.
The debate has gained traction on Blind, an anonymous workplace forum. A series of recent posts argue that the outsized gains of large conglomerates, many of which benefited from state support, should be shared more broadly with the public.
In one post, a user identifying as a civil servant wrote, “SK hynix once struggled and was revived with taxpayer money via the Korea Development Bank. If that’s the case, shouldn’t its bonuses be shared with the public as well?”
The comment referred to low-interest loans extended by the state-run bank during industry downturns in 2023.
Another commenter, identified as an employee at a regional branch of the Credit Guarantee Foundation, suggested a different approach, calling for paying bonuses in local currency vouchers, a form of regionally restricted spending credits used to boost local consumption.
“These companies didn’t succeed on their own; the public played a role too. It’s fine for employees to be rewarded, but the money should circulate within the domestic economy and not end up flowing into real estate.”
A stock ticker at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows shares of SK hynix at 1,136,000 won and Samsung Electronics at 211,000 won, Wednesday. Yonhap
Those arguments draw on the extensive government support that has long underpinned the semiconductor industry.
Source: Korea Times News
