Labor ministry says 'too early' to speak of using emergency arbitration powers against Samsung strike

“The labor ministry said Wednesday it is "too early" to speak of invoking emergency arbitration powers despite the breakdown of wage negotiations at Samsung Electronics earlier in the day. Hong Kyung-ui, a ministry spokesperson, made the remark to reporters after the company's largest labor union vowed to go ahead with its planned strike on Thursday due to the breakdown of government-mediated talks with management. There have been speculations that the government will likely issue an emergency arbitration order to halt a strike and prevent it from causing major harm to the country's economy. "There is still time left for dialogue between labor and management," Hong said at the government complex in the central administrative city of Sejong when asked about the possibility of the order. "It is still too early to specifically speak of that." Under Korean law, the labor minister can issue an emergency arbitration order if a dispute is deemed likely to harm the national economy or seriously disrupt the lives of ordinary people. Such an order would suspend an industrial action for 30 days while

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