South Korean business groups are urging the Ministry of Employment and Labor to clarify that new investment and essential staffing decisions are not labor-dispute subjects under the revised Trade Union Act, warning that the 800 trillion won ($582.3 billion) Honam semiconductor cluster could face operating delays. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to build four fabs on the former Gwangju military airport site, with groundbreaking scheduled for July next year and completion targeted for 2029. Samsung Electronics’ largest union, the Super Enterprise Labor Union, says 84% of its members oppose the project and plans to make workforce deployment a 2027 collective bargaining agenda item. The ministry plans to issue interpretive guidelines early next month after rejecting an enforcement-decree amendment over insufficient statutory authority. Business groups and legal experts want the guidelines to distinguish restructuring-related transfers from staffing assignments for new facilities, allowing negotiations over relocation and other worker disadvantages without giving unions leverage over investment decisions. They warn that delays in transferring experienced engineers could hinder production ramp-up and affect investment in semiconductors and other capital-intensive industries.