▲ President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 12, 2026. (Yonhap)

Lee-public dividends

Lee slams reports on aide's 'public dividend' remark as 'malicious fake news'

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung accused some media outlets Wednesday of distorting his aide's remarks to make it appear that he suggested distributing the excess profits of artificial intelligence (AI) companies among the public.

Lee wrote on his X account that certain outlets were distributing "malicious fake news," when the intent of his chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom was to propose sharing the surplus tax revenue generated by the recent boom at AI companies, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.

"When some news outlets distributed malicious fake news by editing (Kim's) remarks ... he denied it and kindly explained that he was arguing for a review of distributing surplus tax revenue," Lee wrote. "What is the reason they are still carrying such malicious reports? It must be remembered that political accusations and criticism harm democracy if they are not based on facts."

Kim wrote on Facebook the previous day that a "public dividend" system could be considered as a way of sharing with the people "the fruits of the AI infrastructure era."

The remark prompted fierce backlash among critics and the opposition that the presidential office was seeking to adopt a communist-style policy of sharing business profits with the public.

Cheong Wa Dae later dismissed his suggestion as his "personal opinion."

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]