South Korea's top policymaker proposes 'citizen dividend' from AI taxation, triggering stock market volatility before clarification

Presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom posted on Facebook that South Korea should pay citizens a 'dividend' using taxes on AI profits, causing the Kospi benchmark to sink as much as 5.1% before recovering after he clarified he meant tapping 'excess tax revenue' rather than imposing a new windfall levy on corporate profits.

The proposal reflects growing political pressure in South Korea to redistribute gains from the AI infrastructure boom that has enriched chipmakers like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Samsung's operating profit soared 48-fold in the March quarter and is projected to rank second only to Nvidia among the world's most profitable tech companies.