Bae Kyung-Hoon, South Korea’s science and ICT minister, speaks throughout a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, April 27, 2026. Google DeepMind is teaming up with South Korea on the nation’s Ok-Moonshot mission, which makes use of AI to unravel complicated scientific issues. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures
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South Korea should be sure that wealth created by synthetic intelligence advantages the broader public, Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon mentioned, even because the nation grapples with labor tensions at Samsung Electronics and a stock-market rally more and more powered by its greatest chipmakers.
Talking to CNBC’s Lisa Kim on Friday, Bae mentioned the AI period has raised broader questions over how wealth generated by the know-how must be distributed, whether or not AI may worsen inequality and whether or not it may result in job losses.
“Latest labor-management conflicts can be seen as a part of this broader pattern,” he added, referring to Samsung Electronics, the place a deliberate 18-day strike by unionized staff was suspended Wednesday after authorities officers stepped in on the final minute to move off a walkout.
Staff had demanded a formalization of bonuses of their contracts, the scrapping of bonus caps, and a payout of 15% of Samsung’s working earnings as bonuses.
A tentative deal was reached on Wednesday, with the union voting on the plan from Friday to 27 Might.
Bae doesn’t anticipate such industrial motion to be a one-off occasion.
“Within the age of AI, extra of those super-large corporations will proceed to emerge. In that course of, labor-management conflicts could proceed to come up, and once they do, will probably be necessary to resolve them correctly by dialogue,” Bae mentioned.
He pointed at automaker Hyundai, and mentioned that there are “many issues and worries” about its integration of Atlas robots – made by Boston Dynamics – into its manufacturing course of.
What South Korea wants isn’t solely the power to create “nice wealth” with AI, however to additionally decide how the wealth and know-how can be utilized correctly, and the influence it’s going to have on the general public, Bae mentioned.
“The advantages of AI should additionally go to the general public,” Bae added, saying that Seoul is deeply centered on constructing an “AI-inclusive society — a society the place nobody is left behind within the AI period.”
His feedback come after South Korean presidential official Kim Yeong Beom proposed on Facebook on Might 12 to distribute extra tax income generated from Korea’s synthetic intelligence and semiconductor sectors to residents, sparking turmoil in markets.
An official later reportedly clarified that the submit was Kim’s opinion, and never a topic of formal discussions.
Shaky Kospi rally
Bae, who additionally holds the portfolio of South Korea’s minister for science and know-how, was additionally requested about sharp features in South Korean markets, led by heavyweights Samsung and SK Hynix which have seen their shares rise because of the AI increase.
Samsung has posted a year-to-date achieve of just about 144%, and SK Hynix has risen by virtually 200% from Jan 1. The Kospi itself is now greater than 86% larger in 2026 to this point, surpassing final 12 months’s achieve of about 75%.
Kospi index, 12 months thus far
When requested if he noticed the focus of features within the tech sector as a weak spot, Bae replied: “Whereas these two corporations clearly have their very own strengths, there may be additionally an ecosystem of associated corporations that help semiconductor manufacturing.”
South Korea can be now making an attempt to determine a aggressive benefit in bodily AI, Bae mentioned, expressing confidence that Seoul could make inroads into that sector.
Physical AI generally refers to AI embedded in machines similar to robots, autos and industrial methods, permitting them to sense, cause and act in real-world environments.
“In a means, semiconductors and AI infrastructure present the basic basis. On prime of that, Korea is making an attempt to construct out the complete spectrum of AI capabilities, together with numerous {hardware} tools, software program, and associated providers.”