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President Lee Jae-myung answers questions from reporters at a press conference held at the State Guest House at the Blue House on the 18th. / Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 21st that "to respond to the competition in mega-scale investments across strategic industries such as semiconductors, we need an approach where the government directly invests and acquires equity, moving beyond conventional subsidies or loans." The initiative envisions sharing the fruits of corporate growth with the public.

In a post titled "Subsidies, Loans, and Something in Between: Investment" on his X account (formerly Twitter), President Lee wrote, "Mega-scale investments are essential not only to survive international competition but to lead the industrial economy, and we need a new framework under which the public can together share in the massive excess profits that follow."

President Lee also shared a news article addressing the need for a strategic sovereign wealth fund. Citing the case where the U.S. government converted planned subsidy payments to Intel into equity investment to secure a 9.9% stake, the article highlighted that rather than the government absorbing corporate losses, this model enables sharing risks and returns alongside private investors.

The rationale is that corporations can secure stable, long-term funding sources and reduce the risk of management control or core technologies being transferred to foreign capital, while the government can share investment returns from strategic industry growth with the public.

President Lee remarked, "In an era of mega-scale international competition, flexible responses are difficult to achieve solely through past models of support, such as subsidies, or financing like loans that carry obligations to repay principal and interest."

He added, "That is why our administration has initiated policies to enable companies and the government—meaning the public—to share together in the fruits of growth through an intermediate model, namely investment and equity acquisition."

                                                                                                        Park Young-hoon