According to TechNews, Hyundai Motor's union planned to strike for two hours a day over three consecutive days starting July 13, "to escalate pressure on management." Liberty Times confirms the union "launched a three-day partial strike" on the same date, citing a breakdown in wage negotiations between labor and management.
Liberty Times adds operational detail: production-line workers were scheduled to stop work two hours early each day from July 13 to July 15, with the union set to reconvene on July 16 to decide on further action while continuing to negotiate with management.
According to Liberty Times, the biggest point of contention in this year's negotiations is the union's demand that performance bonuses be tied to 30% of the prior year's combined net profit — a figure also cited by TechNews as the union's core financial ask. Liberty Times reports the union frames this demand against the backdrop of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which "benefited from the AI boom, saw profits grow substantially, and paid workers large bonuses," leading the union to argue Hyundai Motor should likewise expand profit-sharing.
Beyond profit-sharing, TechNews reports the union is also seeking reinstatement of dismissed workers, a delayed retirement age, and employment guarantees related to AI automation. Liberty Times specifies further wage terms: raising the regular bonus from 750% to 800% of monthly salary, and increasing base pay by 149,600 won. The union is also asking to extend the statutory retirement age from 60 to 65, per Liberty Times.
According to TechNews, Hyundai Motor management put forward a third-round compensation proposal that includes a monthly pay increase of 89,000 won, a performance bonus equal to 350% of monthly salary, a one-time 10 million won incentive payment, and 15 shares of company stock per employee. Liberty Times describes the same package — base pay up 89,000 won, a one-time bonus of 350% of monthly salary plus 10 million won, and 15 shares of company stock — and reports the union rejected it as "failing to meet expectations."
| Item | Union Demand | Management Offer |
|---|---|---|
| Performance bonus basis | 30% of last year's net profit | 350% of monthly salary + 10M won |
| Regular bonus | 750% → 800% of monthly salary | — |
| Base pay increase | 149,600 won | 89,000 won |
| Stock allocation | — | 15 shares per employee |
| Retirement age | 60 → 65 | — |
According to TechNews, Hyundai Motor Group previously announced plans to gradually deploy Boston Dynamics' new Atlas humanoid robot across its domestic and overseas production bases, and the union "is concerned this will affect production-line employment," demanding the company commit to protecting workers' jobs and labor conditions.
Liberty Times provides a timeline for the rollout: Hyundai Motor plans to introduce Atlas robots at its U.S. plant starting in 2028 for highly repetitive tasks such as parts preparation, with more complex assembly work planned by 2030. In response, Liberty Times reports the union is demanding that formal negotiations and an income-guarantee mechanism be completed before any Atlas deployment, along with a full monthly wage system to cushion the impact of automation-driven reductions in working hours.
According to Liberty Times citing Korean media, this strike could cause production losses exceeding 18.7 billion won per hour. For comparison, Liberty Times notes that last year's 16-hour rotating strike by the same union was estimated to have cut output by about 7,000 vehicles, translating to revenue losses of more than 300 billion won based on average vehicle prices.
The stakes are magnified by South Korea's role in Hyundai Motor's global operations: Liberty Times reports the country remains Hyundai Motor's most important production base, accounting for nearly half of global annual sales and exporting more than one million vehicles a year, meaning any disruption to domestic output could affect the global supply chain and squeeze overseas dealer inventories.
According to TechNews, Hyundai Motor CEO Choi Young-il issued a statement on July 10 expressing regret over the union's strike decision, stating that the strike would harm the company's competitiveness and calling on the union to negotiate rationally.
Liberty Times, reporting on remarks from Choi Young-il in his capacity overseeing domestic production operations, states that the company "will not concede because of the strike" and "will not compensate for wage losses incurred during the strike period," adding that past strikes had produced "nothing but production disruptions, reduced employee income, and negative market and consumer perception."
According to TechNews, GM Korea's union has secured legal strike authorization and planned, starting July 13, to refuse overtime, weekend shifts, and early-morning shifts in order to pressure management for higher wages and a commitment to keep new vehicle production in Korean plants.
Separately, TechNews reports that Kia's labor and management sides have gone through five rounds of negotiations without reaching consensus, suggesting the impasse is unlikely to break in the short term.
The numbers in this dispute point to a widening gap: the union's ask of 30% of net profit and an 800% bonus ceiling, invoked partly by pointing to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's AI-driven bonus payouts (E11), stands against management's offer of a 350%-of-salary bonus plus fixed cash and stock (E3, E15) — a gap management, per Choi Young-il, says it will not close under strike pressure (E19). At the same time, the union's push for negotiated safeguards before Atlas robots reach the assembly line (E13) is set against a company-stated 2028–2030 deployment timeline (E12), meaning the clock on automation and the clock on wage talks are now running in parallel. With Korea supplying nearly half of Hyundai Motor's global sales (E18) and an hourly strike cost estimated at 18.7 billion won (E16), and with GM Korea and Kia workers pressing separate wage and job-security disputes at the same time (E6, E7), the current standoff sits within a broader pattern of Korean auto-labor friction rather than an isolated event.
No. According to Liberty Times, Choi Young-il, who oversees domestic production operations, stated the company will not compensate for wage losses incurred during the strike period.
According to TechNews, GM Korea's union secured legal strike authorization and planned to refuse overtime, weekend shifts, and early-morning shifts starting July 13, pressing for higher wages and a commitment to keep new vehicle production in Korea.
According to Liberty Times, Hyundai Motor plans to introduce Atlas humanoid robots at its U.S. plant starting in 2028 for parts preparation, with more complex assembly tasks planned by 2030.
According to Liberty Times Net and UDN Money, TSMC (台積電) reported June revenue of NT$442.68 billion (+6.2% MoM, +67.9% YoY), lifting Q2 revenue to a record NT$1.27 trillion and pushing H1 revenue past NT$2 trillion for the first time, with foreign brokers raising target prices ahead of the July 16 earnings call.
According to a MoneyDJ report, MediaTek (聯發科) posted NT$58.012 billion in June revenue, up 22.3% month-on-month, marking its third-highest monthly figure on record. Liberty Times Net reported Q2 revenue of NT$152.183 billion, exceeding the high end of the company's own guidance range of NT$140.2–149.2 billion.
According to a report by TechNews, OpenAI, SpaceXAI (formerly xAI) and Meta are racing to cut per-token costs with new models, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says enterprises are scrutinizing AI spending — a shift also flagged by Cnyes as 'AI bill anxiety' driving vendors to compete on token value.