South Korea has formally denied online claims that the government was moving to create a new think tank tied to chipmaker profits. According to Yonhap, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said reports alleging Seoul had contacted Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to launch a government-led profit-sharing body were “completely false.”
The ministry used unusually strong language in its response. It said anyone found maliciously spreading misleading information would face strict measures, and that such cases would be referred to investigative authorities.
Record chip earnings turned into a political issue
The controversy comes as South Korea’s semiconductor leaders post historic gains during the AI boom. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix sit at the center of that debate as major players in HBM, or high-bandwidth memory, a segment critical to AI hardware demand. The report noted that SK Hynix supplies most of the HBM used in Nvidia AI accelerators.
That profit surge has fueled domestic discussion over how additional tax revenue linked to the chip cycle should be used to support long-term growth. Once that question entered public debate, the issue shifted beyond industry policy and became politically charged.
Lee Jae-myung’s remarks helped spark speculation
The latest rumor emerged after President Lee Jae-myung, in an interview with The Economist last month, floated the idea of basic income support and said that part of the excess profits could be distributed to the general public. His comment was quickly tied by some observers to the windfall enjoyed by major chip companies.
The presidential office later clarified that the remarks were not aimed at any specific company. It said the point was broader: South Korea will eventually need to confront this issue as it moves through an AI-driven transition.
Denial came days after a 800 trillion won investment plan
The timing added to the attention around the rumor. Just days earlier, Lee appeared alongside Samsung and SK Hynix to announce a public-private investment plan worth 800 trillion won, or about $520 billion, aimed at expanding chip production and defending South Korea’s lead in the global AI race.
Against that backdrop, speculation that the government was preparing a separate policy mechanism to channel corporate profits spread quickly online. The ministry’s statement rejects that claim in direct terms, but the wider argument over chip windfalls, taxation, and public distribution remains active in South Korea.