'The exception for the 52-hour work week' was omitted from the special semiconductor bill designated as 'fast track' by the Democratic Party of Korea, raising concerns among the domestic semiconductor industry that they may fall behind in global competition due to their inability to accelerate research and development (R&D). Major competitors, including the U.S., China, and Taiwan, are engaging in a 'speed war' in AI semiconductor R&D, while the large opposition party is criticized for ignoring voices from the field and standardizing the competitiveness of the Korean semiconductor industry downward.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, along with AI semiconductor corporations such as Furiosa AI, has been criticizing the political circles for not listening to field voices. Critics point out that while he promises to foster the AI semiconductor industry, declaring 'K-NVIDIA,' he maintains unfavorable regulations for the semiconductor industry, showing a disconnect between his words and actions. Domestic AI semiconductor dark horses like Furiosa AI, DeepX, and Rebellion are demanding the repeal of the 52-hour work week regulation, and major corporations including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have also expressed concerns over the Democratic Party's fast track designation.
◇ The Democratic Party pushes forward with fast track, excluding the exception for the 52-hour work week
On the 17th, the National Assembly voted anonymously on a motion to designate the special semiconductor bill as fast track, resulting in 180 votes in favor, 70 against, 3 abstentions, and 5 invalid votes. The semiconductor special law contains support measures for the semiconductor industry; however, the bill put forward by the Democratic Party of Korea, which is on fast track, omits the exception clause for the 52-hour work week that the industry has been requesting. The Democratic Party of Korea, opposed to specifying the exception clause, has decided to push ahead with the bill excluding this clause since it could not reach agreement with the People Power Party. As a result, the semiconductor special bill without the exception clause for the 52-hour work week is expected to be presented to the assembly no later than 330 days from now.
The semiconductor industry worries that if this bill passes amid fierce global semiconductor competition, corporations will struggle with advanced semiconductor R&D. Indeed, major competitor countries do not impose work hour limits on their R&D personnel, allowing unlimited working hours. Taiwan's TSMC, the largest competitor of Samsung Electronics' foundry division, aims to ensure that R&D personnel can increase their working hours to take on more work while providing thorough compensation. Companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and Broadcom do not have any regulations related to working hours to begin with.
Chinese semiconductor companies are also increasing their R&D focus and rapidly closing the technology gap with Korea. Recently, they are accelerating their pursuit at an unprecedented pace in areas like DRAM and high bandwidth memory (HBM), which were previously considered Korea's stronghold. In fact, Chinese company CXMT has started mass production of DDR5 DRAM, which was deemed impossible within 2-3 years, and is expected to enter the HBM market, currently dominated by the top three players, within this year.
In such circumstances, if Korean corporations do not secure sufficient R&D time, there is a possibility that their technology could be unintentionally overtaken. Ahn Hyun, CEO of SK hynix, recently expressed concerns at the 'Semiconductor Special Committee Research Result Announcement' hosted by The National Academy of Engineering of Korea, stating, 'In special activities such as development, the 52-hour work week system could create negative habits or practices.' He cited TSMC's case, saying, 'TSMC encourages engineers to work late by providing special allowances because once engineers start development, they need to keep going.'
◇ Semiconductor industry says, 'Ignoring field voices undermines Korean competitiveness'
Criticism is also emerging from the AI semiconductor industry, including Furiosa AI, which Lee Jae-myung recently visited, that the political circles are not listening to the voices from the field. A senior official in the fabless (semiconductor design specialization) industry noted, 'Startups face different challenges under the 52-hour work week compared to large corporations,' and pointed out, 'AI semiconductor startups must work harder with fewer R&D personnel to catch up with large firms, but applying the 52-hour work week uniformly makes it difficult to build competitiveness in reality.'
This official stated, 'Engineers should be allowed to work more if they want to, but now it's becoming illegal, which is the problem,' adding, 'When necessary, it often becomes illegal to work more, leading to increased unnecessary risks as loopholes are exploited. Exceptional engineering talent is conducting research and development without protection from the system.' He further stated, 'Given the nature of the technology-intensive semiconductor industry, strictly adhering to the 52-hour work week is unrealistic,' suggesting, 'For engineers who want to voluntarily work more, the environment should be established to allow them to do so and provide accordingly compensation.'
Samsung Electronics is not in a significantly different situation. An executive from Samsung Electronics' foundry division pointed out, 'The 52-hour work regulation is a typical case of downward standardization. Politicians would understand that a 52-hour work week is nonsensical if they visited the field even for a few days during concentrated development,' adding, 'When projects pile up, makeshift measures are desperately insufficient, and some employees even use their vacation time to come to work.'
An engineer from a large semiconductor corporation remarked, 'The 52-hour work week system is an unreasonable regulation from the start,' saying, 'When you adjust to the U.S. (clients) time, coming in late in the morning and working in the afternoon while holding online meetings often pushes into the early morning. In trying to forcibly match work hours, it is common to enter exception times that differ from actual work hours.' He further questioned, 'If we, the engineers, are not compensated properly due to being bound by the 52-hour work week, who would stay in Korea?'