Korea Roils Markets by Floating ‘Citizen Dividend’ From AI Tax

A top South Korean policymaker said the nation should pay citizens a “dividend” using taxes on AI profits, underscoring growing pressure on authorities to redistribute gains from a boom that has enriched chipmakers like Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.

The comments in a Facebook post by presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom fueled sharp swings in Korean stocks on Tuesday as investors struggled to parse the scope of Kim’s proposals. The benchmark Kospi index sank as much as 5.1%, then pared losses after Kim clarified he wanted to tap into “excess tax revenue” generated from the AI boom rather than roll out a new windfall tax on corporate profits. Shares in Samsung and SK Hynix sank but later recouped much of their losses.