Citizens chant during a candlelight protest calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Leaders of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), the largest among the tech firm's multiple labor unions, are facing a backlash from union members, following their decision to join a protest calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3 and lifted the order six hours later, due to a National Assembly resolution repealing the decree.

On the NSEU's official website, which bans nonmembers from leaving comments, many of its members urged their leaders to focus more on wage talks with the management, rather than spending the union's budget on a political purpose.

This came as the NSEU issued a statement on Wednesday to announce its plan to join a rally near the National Assembly on Saturday for Yoon's impeachment.

The statement was the first of its kind since the union leaders were reappointed on Dec. 6.

Although the union members were informed that their participation was not mandatory, many of them expressed their intent to leave the union, saying that they had never agreed to use the name of Samsung in the protest.

"I cannot understand why our organization made such an announcement, despite the irrelevance between our company's current situation and Yoon," one of the union members wrote on the NSEU's website. "I'm disappointed at the announcement without any prior notice."

Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union picket in front of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong's house in Seoul, Aug. 1. Korea Times file

Throughout this year, Samsung Electronics has been said to be suffering its most challenging crisis to date, as its belated investments in high-bandwidth memory chips for artificial intelligence servers eventually led its semiconductor division to fall behind SK hynix in terms of third-quarter operating profits.

The negotiation for this year's wages has also been delayed until next year, as the company's labor and management failed to reach an agreement.

However, some NSEU members emphasized the need for action against the incumbent administration, mentioning the ruling party's attempt to pass a special chips act, which aims to exclude semiconductor researchers from the 52-hour workweek system.

"I witnessed on Dec. 7 that many other unions even rented buses to join a rally in Yeouido," another member of the NSEU said. "This is not just a political issue, as the martial law decree included a clause on labor repression."

On Friday, a group of 11 unions at Samsung's affiliates also issued a statement demanding the immediate arrest of Yoon and his impeachment.