Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on the 15th addressed the debate over allocating excess profits at semiconductor conglomerates, saying, "When corporations' profits are reinvested into future industries, Korea can remain a manufacturing powerhouse leading the artificial intelligence (AI) era."
Minister Kim Jung-kwan attended the forum "Corporate investment and the future of labor in the AI era," held that day at Korea Growth Investment Corporation (K-Growth) in Yeouido, Seoul, and stated accordingly, "Today's profits must become tomorrow's semiconductor plants and AI data centers." He said the AI revolution requires investments on an unprecedented scale across semiconductor factories and AI data centers, power grids, and talent cultivation.
Regarding the semiconductor industry, which is posting record profits, he said, "Whether today's profits are consumed as a temporary outcome or consolidated as investments preparing for the AI era will determine our future." Citing the United Kingdom as a case of the "resource curse" for having discovered North Sea oil fields in the 1970s but failing to make productive investments, weakening its manufacturing competitiveness, he added, "If the windfall of one era does not lead to competitiveness in the next, that wealth will not last long."
On labor, he said, "In the AI era, innovation in how we work matters more than the amount of labor," noting that competitiveness is determined by learning ability and adaptability, not working hours. Referring to Germany's Volkswagen, which has embarked on large-scale restructuring, he also said, "In the AI era, the most dangerous thing is not change but refusing to change." He proposed "flexicurity" as an alternative that guarantees flexibility for innovation for corporations and stability in life for workers.
By contrast, Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) emphasized that fair distribution of results is the most certain reinvestment. Minister Kim Young-hoon said at the forum "A new path of social innovation in step with AI technological innovation," held the previous day in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, "It is difficult to contain a new era with the grammar of the industrialization era," adding, "We need a new social contract for humans that fits the AI era."
He added, "The astronomical results achieved by corporations are not solely the product of independent innovation but the sum of government tax incentives and the sweat of both primary and subcontracted workers," stressing, "We must go beyond the binary of 'investment or distribution.'"