The South Korean stock market closed lower for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, driven by profit-taking, though it pared some of its earlier losses as chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. reversed course to trade higher and investors focused on its wage negotiations.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 62.71 points, or 0.86%, to close at 7,208.95, after declining as much as 3% earlier in the session.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. ended the day up 0.18%. Earlier negotiations had failed to reach an agreement, prompting South Korea's Minister of Employment and Labor to step in to mediate wage talks between the company and its union.
SK Hynix closed flat. Battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 3.88%. LG Chem fell 5.28%, major portal Naver declined 3.33%, and mobile messaging app operator Kakao lost 3.49%. Hyundai Motor decreased 1.99%, Kia Motors fell 3.55%, steelmaker POSCO Holdings dropped 5.33%, and pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics slipped 0.67%.
Foreign investors sold a net 292.93 billion won worth of shares on the KOSPI.
Management at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world's largest memory chipmaker, and its union leaders failed to reach an agreement on bonus payments in last-minute talks aimed at averting a strike. The South Korean chipmaker stated on Wednesday that management could not accept the union's demands, which included performance bonuses for employees in loss-making business units.
Union leader Choi Seung-ho said management rejected a government-mediated proposal that the union had already accepted. The union leader stated that the strike would proceed as planned from May 21 to June 7.
South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that the Minister of Employment and Labor would personally mediate negotiations between Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and the union, which plans to begin striking on Thursday. Talks are set to resume at 4 p.m. Seoul time on Wednesday.
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