By Heejin Kim and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL, June 24 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it was considering buying ‌back shares to fund stock-based employee compensation tied to ‌its 2026 performance, but that no details including timing or size of the ​buyback had been decided.

The clarification came in a regulatory filing after local media reported that Samsung would buy back 90 trillion won ($58.61 billion) worth of shares from next month.

Samsung's management and union last ‌month reached a pay ⁠deal under which Samsung is expected to set aside about 10.5% of its annual operating profit ⁠for special bonuses for the chip division in the form of stocks, sparking concerns over inequality at the company.

Employees at Samsung will ​be able ​to immediately sell a third ​of the treasury shares they ‌receive as bonuses, but they will have to wait a year to sell another third and a further year for the remainder.

Samsung also may need to repurchase additional stocks to award employees under a separate compensation programme, called the "Performance Stock Unit," which ‌was introduced last October to align ​employee rewards with long-term stock performance.

Samsung ​Electronics and chip rival ​SK Hynix are expected to post record profits ‌this year and next year, as ​the AI boom ​has fueled a shortage of memory chips, driving up prices.

Samsung shares closed up 9.8%, outperforming SK Hynix's 1% gain ​and reclaiming the ‌top spot by common-share market capitalisation in South Korea.

($1 = 1,535.6000 ​won)

(Reporting by Heejin Kim, Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce LeeEditing ​by Ed Davies, Elaine Hardcastle)