* Government officials warn a strike could threaten

economic growth and exports

* Union rejects pressure for arbitration, vows not to

accept unfavourable pay deal

* President Lee Jae Myung urges equal respect for labour

and corporate management rights

(Adds union leader's comment and updates shares in paragraphs 3

and 8)

By Heekyong Yang

SEOUL, May 18 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF )

and its South Korean labour union kicked off a new

round of government-mediated pay talks on Monday, in a bid to

avert a strike at the tech giant, which accounts for nearly a

quarter of the country's exports.

The talks follow the collapselast week of a first round of

negotiations over pay and bonus schemes, ahead of a strike due

to begin on Thursday at the world's largest memory chipmaker.

Before the meeting, a union leader told reporters that it

would engage sincerely in the talks.

South Korean government officials, including the prime

minister and finance minister, have voiced concerns that a

strike should be avoided at all costs, warning it could pose

significant risk to economic growth, exports and financial

markets.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in a social media

post on Monday that management rights should be respected as

much as labour rights.

"In South Korea, which has adopted a liberal democratic

order and capitalist market economy, labour should be respected

as much as businesses, and corporate management rights should be

respected as much as labour rights," Lee wrote on X.

He said that workers should receive fair compensation for

their labour, while shareholders who bear risks and losses

through investments also deserve a share of corporate profit.

STRIKE DUE TO START MAY 21

Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) shares reversed course after Lee's post,

rising as much as 3.5% in morning trade, compared with a 1.5%

decline in the benchmark KOSPI index.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Sunday the

government would pursue all options, including emergency

arbitration, to prevent a strike.

An emergency arbitration order, which can be invoked by the

labour minister if the country deems that a dispute is likely to

harm the economy or daily life, immediately prohibits industrial

action for 30 days while the National Labor Relations Commission

conducts mediation and arbitration.

The union said on Sunday it would not give in to pressure on

arbitration and would not agree to a pay deal should the company

offer a less favourable proposal.

More than 45,000 workers are threatening to stage the

largest strike in the company's history running for 18 days from

May 21, disrupting production of memory chips that are crucial

components in AI data centres, smartphones and laptops, as

Samsung and its union struggle to find a compromise over bonus

payouts.

After the collapse of negotiations last week, executives

from Samsung's chip division urged the union to refrain from

striking, citing concerns raised by hard-won semiconductor

customers such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), according to media reports.

The executives said some customers had indicated they might

temporarily stop accepting shipments during a strike because

they could not guarantee product quality, according to the

reports, citing a participant at the meeting.

Samsung declined to comment on the matter.