South Korea’s labor minister Kim Young-hoon said on June 5 that Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and other large companies should discuss sharing AI-driven excess profits.

He said suppliers, subcontractors, and workers should also benefit as inequality widens.

Kim said the government, companies, unions, and suppliers should hold public talks on how to distribute gains that exceed after-tax profit targets. He also outlined possible methods for the first time, including adjusting prices paid to suppliers.

The remarks came as SK hynix’s operating profit rose fivefold year on year in the March quarter.

Its operating margin reaching 72% as demand for AI memory chips lifted prices.

Kim’s proposal revives a policy fight debated in 2012.

Earlier efforts to share “excess profits” with suppliers was watered down after resistance from large companies and some officials.

His comments followed a Samsung wage deal that he helped broker. The conservative People Power Party called the idea state intervention that undermined the free-market economy, while Kim said it was reinvestment in the supply chain, not “communism.”

🔗 Source: Reuters

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