Naver—Naver Union filed first IT-industry legal action under South Korea's Yellow Envelope Act after parent refused to join affiliate bargaining
After wage talks broke down at Naver Z (Naver's metaverse subsidiary, maker of Zepeto) with management proposing a salary freeze and cutting incentives to one-tenth of prior levels, the Naver Union formally demanded integrated bargaining covering all 15 Naver affiliated corporations, arguing Naver exercises real control over affiliates through full ownership stakes, shared administration, and personnel authority. Naver responded that it is not the practical employer of affiliate workers. On October 2, 2026 the union filed what it said was the IT industry's first legal action under the amended Trade Union Act ('Yellow Envelope Act') with the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission, seeking a ruling that Naver must join the bargaining as a joint employer.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.322 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.57)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (1 signal)
Naver, Kakao unions demand parent companies join combined bargaining
Korea Sedaily reported the Naver Union filed a legal request with the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission on October 2, 2026, seeking correction of Naver's rejection of integrated bargaining across its 15 affiliates, in what it called the IT industry's first case under the amended Trade Union Act (Yellow Envelope Act).