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South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok introduces discussions regarding South Korea's basic income at the Summer Davos on the 24th. / Captured from Baidu

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok stated that South Korea is considering basic income as a method to distribute the new wealth generated in the AI era, adding that related discussions are actively underway within the government. Prime Minister Kim made these remarks during a special address on the 24th at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos, held at the Dalian International Conference Center in Liaoning Province, China, where he introduced the South Korean government's policy directions for responding to the era of massive AI transformation.

"I have an idea," he began. "Regarding the massive new wealth that will emerge alongside the great AI transformation, humanity has long discussed this academically. However, it has never actually been implemented or scaled up in reality. For this reason, I believe we could potentially integrate concepts like basic income."

He further explained that put simply, basic income ultimately boils down to distributing economic achievements more evenly to everyone. He noted that while scholars have raised the idea or certain countries have tested it on a very small, temporary scale, he is not aware of any large-scale experiments yet, emphasizing that South Korea is currently experimenting with it in various formats.

"President Lee Jae-myung is a political leader who, quite rarely for someone in leadership, has researched and raised the issue of basic income," Prime Minister Kim noted, reinforcing that these discussions on basic income are not confined to academia but are actively taking place within the government's policy-making process.

He added that this deliberation is being debated among policymakers rather than just scholars, mentioning that the issue has been raised and discussed even within a Telegram chat group for cabinet ministers, which includes himself.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Kim diagnosed that South Korean society is facing unprecedented distribution challenges driven by advancements in AI and high-tech industries. He pointed out that South Korea's world-class semiconductor companies are generating massive profits compared to the past amid the recent growth of the domestic stock market, raising entirely new questions that South Korean society has never experienced before regarding how these profits should be distributed.

                                                                                                         Hong Soon-do