South Korea Denies Report of Profit-Sharing Think Tank for Samsung and SK hynix

Demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) from AI servers helped Samsung Electronics and SK hynix generate combined operating profit of 90 trillion won ($61 billion) in 2025. Whether the gains from the semiconductor supercycle should be shared with employees, shareholders or the broader public has become a focus of debate in South Korea over labor policy and basic income.

On July 1, 2026, South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy denied sending letters to the two companies demanding that they overturn performance-bonus agreements and establish a government-led profit-sharing think tank. The ministries said the claims circulating online were entirely false and that they would report malicious distributors of the misinformation to investigative authorities. The labor ministry still plans to hold a forum on semiconductor profit distribution in July, though its agenda and date have yet to be finalized.