South Korean CEOs seek Trump’s favor as labor risks rise at home



Analysis South Korean CEOs seek Trump’s favor as labor risks rise at home Yellow Envelope Act’s expansion of labor rights could expose corporations to industrial action over US investment plans John LeeOctober 16, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON ROK President Lee Jae-myung meets with the CEOs of South Korea's largest companies, June 13, 2025 \| Image: ROK Presidential Office The leaders of South Korea’s largest conglomerates are heading to Mar-a-Lago this week to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, just as their companies face increased risk of labor unrest at home. The upcoming meeting highlights a growing contradiction between corporate diplomacy abroad and pro-labor policy at home, with the Yellow Envelope Act set to expand union power and expose the country’s conglomerates — known as chaebol — to a new phase of legally protected strikes. The core of the issue is that the law allows unions to challenge South Korean conglomerate’s investment decisions, meaning that the Lee administration has given © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 02South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 03Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 04Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility 05US midterm clock raises stakes for South Korea’s $200 billion investment talks 06Lee’s Hormuz red line tests South Korea’s leverage in $350 billion US talks 07South Korea’s AI data center boom is colliding with the true cost of power 08Why South Korea cannot rebalance growth without stronger regional clusters

Analysis

South Korean CEOs seek Trump’s favor as labor risks rise at home

Yellow Envelope Act’s expansion of labor rights could expose corporations to industrial action over US investment plans

John LeeOctober 16, 2025

South Korean CEOs seek Trump’s favor as labor risks rise at home

ROK President Lee Jae-myung meets with the CEOs of South Korea's largest companies, June 13, 2025 | Image: ROK Presidential Office

The leaders of South Korea’s largest conglomerates are heading to Mar-a-Lago this week to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, just as their companies face increased risk of labor unrest at home.

The upcoming meeting highlights a growing contradiction between corporate diplomacy abroad and pro-labor policy at home, with the Yellow Envelope Act set to expand union power and expose the country’s conglomerates — known as chaebol — to a new phase of legally protected strikes.

The core of the issue is that the law allows unions to challenge South Korean conglomerate’s investment decisions, meaning that the Lee administration has given

South Korean CEOs seek Trump’s favor as labor risks rise at home

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John Lee