Samsung approves a record ₩90-110 trillion shareholder return, roughly five times its old high

Samsung approves a record ₩90-110 trillion shareholder return, roughly five times its old high

Samsung Electronics' board approved a shareholder return of up to ₩110 trillion won for 2026, the largest in Korean corporate history and more than five times its previous record set in 2020.

Why this matters. Samsung accounts for roughly one-fifth of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) by market capitalization. A return program of this scale simultaneously moves index funds, National Pension Service allocations, and Korea's large retail investor base.

What changed. The board voted August 21 to return between ₩90 trillion and ₩110 trillion to shareholders this year, compared with the prior record of ₩20.3 trillion in 2020, per Korea Herald and Seoul Economic Daily. About ₩30 trillion will go out as Q3 cash dividends, with the exact structure finalized at an October board meeting. The remaining ₩60 to 80 trillion, a mix of dividends and share buybacks followed by cancellations, will be decided at a January 2027 board meeting once full-year results are final. The board also separately approved ₩15 trillion in treasury-share purchases for employee compensation, a distinct program not counted in the shareholder return figure.

Worth knowing. The plan follows Samsung's three-year policy of returning 50% of its free cash flow (잉여현금흐름) to shareholders over 2024 to 2026. Cumulated across all three years, total returns are projected at ₩120 to 140 trillion won. At least one brokerage, KB Securities, had modeled up to ₩200 trillion for Samsung alone, per Hankyung.

What's next. The October board meeting finalizes the Q3 dividend structure. January 2027 decides how the remaining ₩60 to 80 trillion splits between cash dividends and share buybacks.

Korea This Week

Hyundai Motor's union stages its first full all-day strike in ten years

Hyundai Motor's labor union launched an all-day eight-hour strike on August 21, shutting every production line at all three domestic plants for the first time since September 2016, per Seoul Economic Daily and Korea Times.

The numbers.

• About 39,000 union members participated, covering Ulsan, Jeonju, and Asan plants
• Cumulative production losses from this year's strikes: around 55,200 vehicles, with lost sales exceeding ₩2.3 trillion, per Korea Herald
• Union demands: a bonus equal to 30% of last year's net profit, a retirement-age extension, reinstatement of dismissed members, and new protections against AI and automation displacement

What's next. Partial four-hour strikes were scheduled for August 24 and 25. If management does not table a new offer, the union's central strike committee was set to meet August 25 to decide on further escalation.

President Lee publicly apologizes to a lawmaker his party excluded from the 2024 ticket, after his acquittal is upheld

President Lee Jae-myung (이재명) apologized August 21 to former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker No Woong-rae (노웅래), excluded from the 2024 ticket, after No's bribery acquittal was upheld on appeal, per Kyunghyang Shinmun and Financial News.

Worth knowing. Lee said he excluded No "in tears," under pressure from what he called a "politicized prosecution," calling it a mistake he now regrets. No cleared a not-guilty verdict at first instance and again on appeal. The apology is notable for having a court-resolved, acquitted case behind it at a moment when Lee's party has pressed the prosecution-overreach argument across multiple disputes.

Yongsan Park housing bills stall again after another failed meeting between Seoul and the housing ministry

The National Assembly postponed the Yongsan Park housing bills on August 20 after Seoul's mayor and the housing minister again failed to agree on supply targets, per Aju News, YTN, and Hankook Ilbo.

What changed. Housing Minister Kim Yun-deok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met August 20 but remained divided over how much of the Yongsan Park site, and under what conditions, can carry housing; the government favors adding units on already-built or damaged sections, while Seoul opposes housing on the park's main body. A separate bill shortening the legislative fast-track review period from 330 days to 90 days passed the same session, per Financial News. The housing bills did not advance.

What's next. Floor votes on the stalled bills are expected the week of August 24, though no specific date was confirmed as of August 22.

Chief Justice summoned to testify before the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee; PPP walks out

The National Assembly's Judiciary Committee voted August 21 to summon Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae (조희대) and National Court Administration head Roh Kyung-pil as witnesses for a current-affairs hearing, per MBC, Asia Today, and NewDaily.

Worth knowing. The committee's stated grounds include trial-delay complaints and Cho's decision to submit a Supreme Court justice nomination in writing rather than in person, breaking with precedent. Referral of major martial-law-related cases to the full bench is also cited. The People Power Party (PPP) walked out of the vote, calling the proceeding a "pre-emptive impeachment hearing" and arguing President Lee, not the Chief Justice, should be the one testifying.

What's next. The hearing is scheduled for August 31.

North Korea fires ten ballistic missiles as US-South Korea drills end five days early and Trump floats a Kim summit

North Korea fired more than ten ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on August 20 as the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise ended five days early, per Al Jazeera and Seoul Economic Daily.

The numbers.

• More than ten short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Pyongyang area; flew approximately 300km toward the East Sea, per Al Jazeera
• South Korea's Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back identified them as likely 600mm multiple rocket launchers; Pyongyang has previously described the same system as capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads
• Ulchi Freedom Shield, originally scheduled August 17 to 27 (11 days), ended August 21 (5 days) after President Trump directed a substantial scale-back, per Financial News

Worth knowing. Trump said the same week he had received a response from Kim Jong Un after reducing the drills. Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong said she was unaware of any recent communications between the countries, calling Trump's decision "an evident disaster." Seoul's government called the launch a UN Security Council resolution violation. The two sides' public statements are running in opposite directions.

What's next. A Trump-Kim meeting has been floated for a November Asia trip; no date or venue has been confirmed.

Watch This Week

• August 27 (Thursday). The Bank of Korea's (BoK) Monetary Policy Board meets to decide the base rate (기준금리), currently 2.75% after the July 16 hike, its first in three and a half years. Most analysts expect a hold, but a "hawkish hold" is possible: Woori Financial Research Institute flagged one or two dissenting votes for a hike, or language in the statement signaling more tightening ahead. Residents with variable-rate mortgages, jeonse (전세) loans, or savings deposits should watch the tone, not just the number, per Newsfc.

• Week of August 24. The National Assembly is expected to bring the stalled Yongsan Park Special Act and urban-redevelopment bills to a floor vote after August 20 talks between Seoul and the housing ministry ended without agreement. The outcome determines how many housing units the Yongsan Park site adds to Seoul's supply.

In Conversation

Prosecutors raided the home of former President Roh Tae-woo's widow over money a Supreme Court ruling already declared too dirty to count as legitimate wealth.

Worth knowing. The raid on August 21 targeted Kim Ok-sook (김옥숙), wife of former President Roh Tae-woo (노태우), at her Seoul home over an alleged ₩90.4 billion presidential slush fund, drawing cross-lean coverage from Hankyung to MBC to Herald Business, per Hankyung, MBC, and Herald Business. The context is the SK Group chairman divorce case: Roh So-young, wife of SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, had her legal team submit memos and a 1991 promissory note showing roughly ₩30 billion of Roh Tae-woo's slush fund flowing into SK. The appellate court accepted that evidence. But the Supreme Court ruled the money could not count as Roh So-young's marital contribution, because illegally hidden wealth does not become a spouse's legitimate asset. Now prosecutors are pursuing the same money under money-laundering and tax-evasion law: the court said it was dirty; the state is now trying to find and seize it, per Kyunghyang Weekly.

Korea Decoded

Kkondae (꼰대): the Korean word for someone who won't stop explaining how things used to be better

Kkondae (꼰대) is the Korean term for a person in authority who imposes their own experience on juniors and refuses to listen back.

Worth knowing. The Standard Korean Dictionary records the word's origins as student slang for "an old person" or "teacher"; the modern meaning has shifted from describing age to describing behavior. Korean workplace surveys now document "young kkondae" (젊은 꼰대) as a recognized subcategory, showing the concept describes a posture within hierarchy, not a generation. The satirical catchphrase "latte is a horse" (라떼는 말이야, a pun on "back in my day," 나 때는 말이야) went mainstream as shorthand for the behavior. Korea's anti-workplace-harassment clause (직장 내 괴롭힘 금지법, Labor Standards Act Article 76-2, effective July 16, 2019) gave rank-leveraged mistreatment a legal definition; kkondae covers wider terrain than the law reaches, from paternalistic micromanagement to the sense that one's past struggle earns the right to dismiss someone else's present one. See Seoulstart's kkondae guide for more.

Why this matters. This week, footage of Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Kim Min-seok (김민석) and party members performing a synchronized 90-degree bow at party meetings drew criticism as overly theatrical. Kim said on social media he expects the greeting to be refined into something "meaningful and visually appropriate," noting the original proposal was a 45-degree bow. Small moment, textbook dynamic: an institution requiring a ritual, then finding it necessary to disown, per Seoul Economic Daily.

Festivals worth checking out

• August 29 to September 6. Muju Firefly Festival (무주반딧불축제), Muju, Jeonbuk: built around the firefly (반딧불이) ecosystem in Muju's Gucheondong Valley, a designated natural environment conservation area. Night firefly walks, ecological exhibits, and traditional Korean folk games. Free entry; buses from Seoul run roughly three hours.

• Opens September 5. Gwangju Biennale (광주비엔날레), Gwangju: Asia's oldest contemporary art biennale, founded in 1995. The 2026 edition is an MCST editor pick; exhibitions run past the window. Advance booking is recommended for opening-week events.

See the full festivals calendar for what's running across the country.

Good Reads

• Money Today. "Samsung's record ₩110 trillion return leans toward dividends over buybacks." Samsung's own announcement covers what the company approved; this piece explains why it weighted the payout toward cash dividends over buybacks, a choice shaped by a cap on how much of a financial-holding-company stake Samsung Life and Samsung Fire can hold, which makes dividends the cleaner tool for a return this size. (link)

• Seoulstart. "Korea Housing Guide for Foreign Residents." This week's Yongsan Park standoff is about how much of one site can carry housing. If you're trying to make sense of Korea's housing system more broadly while that plays out, start here: lease structures, building types, and the records that protect your deposit.

• Newsis. "Kwon Seong-dong's law license revoked after Unification Church bribery sentence is finalized." A conviction finalized last month automatically triggered this week's bar-association license revocation, a different case and mechanism from the No Woong-rae acquittal above: Korean bar registration is pulled automatically once a criminal sentence is finalized, with no separate disciplinary hearing required. (link)

• Hankyung. "Ven. Myungjin, former abbot of Bongeunsa Temple, has died." Ven. Myungjin, who led the Jogye Order's 1994 sectarian reform movement and was a visible figure in Korea's democratization-era Buddhist civic life, died in a freediving accident off Jeju at 76, per News1. The obituary traces his role organizing monk-led protests during the 1980s democratization movement. (link)

• NK News. "Kim Jong Un positioned in the driver's seat as Trump races for a summit." The missile launch above is the headline; this piece explains the diplomatic imbalance underneath: why Pyongyang holds the stronger hand, and what a Trump-Kim summit would likely cost Washington in advance concessions. (link) (subscriber)

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New on Seoulstart this week

• Korean Theme Parks: Everland, Lotte World, and Beyond: a new guide covering Korea's four main theme parks, with costs, transit options, and what is worth the trip for residents and families.
• Market pay check: a new Glassdoor-style pay-range chip on job listings, built from Ministry of Employment and Labor wage data, so you can see whether an offer sits above or below the going rate for the role.
• Job Collections: new curated pages by industry and visa sponsorship, with quick-filter chips and a plain-English alert builder, so "remote marketing jobs that sponsor a visa" becomes a real saved search.

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That's Seoulstart Korea Weekly for this week. See you next week.