South Korea's top policy official proposes 'citizen dividend' funded by taxes on AI profits, triggering sharp market swings

Presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom posted on Facebook that South Korea should pay citizens a dividend using taxes on AI profits. He later clarified he meant tapping 'excess tax revenue' from the AI boom rather than imposing a new windfall levy on corporate profits. An official at the president's office told Bloomberg News that Kim's remarks represented his personal opinion and were not the subject of formal discussions.

The comments caused the Kospi benchmark to sink as much as 5.1% before paring losses. Shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which have benefited from the AI infrastructure rollout, recouped much of their losses and the Kospi closed down 2.3%.

Samsung is forecast to post 330 trillion won ($220 billion) in operating profit this year, which would rank it second only to Nvidia among the world's most profitable companies. SK Hynix is projected to post 239 trillion won of profit in 2026.