{"text":[[{"start":7.25,"text":"South Korea should share the profits generated by the artificial intelligence boom with all its citizens, its presidential policy chief said, sending shares in the country’s memory chipmakers lower."}],[{"start":18.95,"text":"In a Facebook post on Monday, Kim Yong-beom floated the idea of redistributing some of the soaring profits of Korea’s chipmakers after the market value of Samsung Electronics topped $1tn last week and shares in SK Hynix nearly tripled this year."}],[{"start":35.25,"text":"Kim said the latest semiconductor boom pointed to a prolonged supercycle that could generate huge tax windfalls for the government."}],[{"start":45.9,"text":"“Then, the question of how to use that money is not merely optional policymaking — it becomes a matter of institutional design that must be seriously considered,” he wrote. "}],[{"start":56.15,"text":"The comments carry weight as the highly influential Kim helps set the basic framework of the government’s economic policy."}],[{"start":64.1,"text":"Shares in Samsung and SK Hynix declined 3.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively on Tuesday, while the Kospi index fell as much as 5 per cent as investors tried to gauge the potential consequences for the sector."}],[{"start":80.3,"text":"“His comments sound very controversial, especially as he initially suggested excess corporate profits as well as higher tax revenues should be redistributed,” said Chaiwon Lee, chair of Seoul-based Life Asset Management. “Investors need clearer signals about how this would work. But it won’t be easy for the government to take action against the basic principles of capitalism.”"}],[{"start":101.25,"text":"Kim later clarified that he was referring only to “excess tax revenue” generated by the AI boom, rather than proposing a new tax on corporate profits."}],[{"start":110.4,"text":"He said windfall tax revenues from the semiconductor boom of 2021-22 had been spent on an ad hoc basis, warning that “allowing those gains to dissipate in the same manner may amount to squandering a once-in-a-generation historical opportunity”."}],[{"start":126.45,"text":"Samsung and SK Hynix generated a combined Won90tn ($61bn) in operating profits last year, equivalent to about 3 per cent of South Korea’s GDP. "}],[{"start":136.65,"text":"CW Chung, joint head of Asia-Pacific equities research at Nomura, estimated their combined profits could reach Won600tn this year — roughly a quarter of the Korean economy."}],[{"start":149.1,"text":"Kim argued that one of Korea’s biggest challenges was that “excess profits generated in the AI era could structurally widen the K-shaped divide within society” and stressed the need to use part of those gains to preserve social stability."}],[{"start":164,"text":"His comments come as memory chips have emerged as a key bottleneck in the global AI infrastructure supply chain, with Samsung’s and SK Hynix’s advanced high-bandwidth memory chip capacity for this year already sold out. "}],[{"start":177.65,"text":"The strong demand has turned the two companies into some of the world’s most profitable businesses."}],[{"start":183.25,"text":"Their performance has also intensified debate over how the wealth generated by the AI boom is being shared with workers, highlighting widening disparities between a handful of booming sectors and the rest of the economy."}],[{"start":196.95,"text":"Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, entered the final day of government-mediated wage talks with its union on Tuesday in an effort to avert a planned strike. "}],[{"start":207.35,"text":"The company has been locked in a dispute with workers over how to share the gains from the AI-driven semiconductor boom, with unions threatening an 18-day walkout from May 21 unless Samsung agrees to higher wages and bonuses."}],[{"start":221.35,"text":"“Investors don’t like unexpected surprises and a lack of visibility,” said Namuh Rhee, chair of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum, an advocacy group. “Kim’s comments were seen as a hint of anti-market policy and investors are concerned that the government may backpedal its market and governance reforms.”"}],[{"start":247.45000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778582342_4458.mp3"}