On August 24, 2025, South Korea’s National Assembly voted to approve amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act (the “Act”), also known as the “Yellow Envelope Act.”  The reform, long resisted by prior governments and business groups, expands the scope of who qualifies as an “employer,” broadens the range of disputes that may lawfully trigger strikes, and restricts employers’ ability to pursue significant damages awards against workers and their unions.  Proponents of the reform view the bill as an important corrective to what they describe as “outsourced responsibility and weaponised lawsuits.”  Employers, however, regard it as the beginning of a period of legal uncertainty and heightened industrial risk.  

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