South Korean police have launched an investigation into the CEOs of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, on suspicion of breach of trust in connection with their performance bonus agreements.

On July 22, a shareholder group in South Korea called "Headquarters of Korea Shareholder Movement" filed a complaint with the National Police Agency, accusing Samsung Electronics' co-CEO Jeon Young-hyun, Vice Chairman Roh Tae-moon, and SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung of breach of trust under the "Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes Act." The complaint alleges that they reached agreements in performance bonus negotiations with labor unions without prudent evaluation. On August 5, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency assigned the two cases to investigation departments for official registration. The group argues that linking a fixed percentage of operating profit to performance bonuses requires approval from a general shareholders' meeting, not just an agreement between management and labor unions, and that this action infringes upon shareholders' interests. Additionally, the group also filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, accusing him of abuse of power for allegedly interfering with Samsung Electronics' provisional agreement on performance bonuses with its labor union in May this year.