The South Korean government denies plans to establish a think tank to "share" huge profits from chip manufacturers.

BlockBeats reported on July 1st that, according to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy issued a statement today formally denying rumors circulating online that the government plans to establish a new think tank to capitalize on the enormous profits of chip manufacturers. The statement said, "The rumors circulating online that Seoul has sent letters to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix regarding the proposed establishment of a government-led profit-sharing think tank are completely false. We will take strict measures against those who maliciously spread such misleading information and refer them to investigative authorities." This rumor comes against the backdrop of rising domestic debate over how to utilize the resulting additional tax revenue to support long-term growth, as the AI boom has driven record profits for South Korean chip manufacturers. Last month, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, in an interview with The Economist, proposed a universal basic income subsidy, stating that "a portion of the excess profits could be distributed to the general public," referring to the recent debate over how to share the chip manufacturers' exorbitant profits. The presidential office subsequently explained that the remarks were not directed at any specific company, but rather referred to the challenges South Korea must ultimately face in its AI transformation. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as the dominant players in the global HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) market, have seen their profits soar during this AI supercycle, and the social distribution of their enormous capital returns is increasingly coming into the policy discussion arena. According to Bitget market data, the South Korean KOSPI index closed down 2.04%, SK Hynix fell 3.4%, and Samsung Electronics fell 5.84%.