Labor unions representing South Korea’s major steelmakers, POSCO and Hyundai Steel, have jointly issued a warning about a structural crisis facing the steel industry in the city of Pohang. 

According to the unions, the sector is under pressure from four major factors, including global supply chain disruptions, low-priced steel imports, rising carbon transition costs, and increasing industrial electricity prices. These challenges are eroding competitiveness and threatening tens of thousands of jobs.

The unions have called on the government to take urgent action, particularly by reducing electricity costs and expanding direct power purchase mechanisms, in order to ease production expenses and sustain industry operations under current conditions.