Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) General Motors (GM) will continue its investment as planned in Korea despite a recent dispute over bonus payments and ordinary wages.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GM Dan Akerson had stoked the debate over the ordinary wage issue in May when he met President Park Geun-hye during her visit to the United States. During the meeting, Mr. Akerson reconfirmed the company’s plan to invest USD 8 million over the next five years in Korea and asked the president to resolve issues related to ordinary wages.

“Mr. Akerson simply answered the president’s question about whether there are any difficulties doing business in Korea. It is just an exaggerated story that the company is trying to set a settlement of the ordinary wage issue as a precondition for investment,” said an official of GM Korea. “The investment plan will proceed according to plan.”

GM Korea is waiting for the outcome of the ordinary wage litigation that is pending in court. It also plans to begin negotiations with the labor union for restructuring the wage system.

When the dispute over ordinary wages flared last year, the company put aside some USD 800 billion as an allowance for bad debts in case it needed to back pay three years’ wages to its employees.