President Lee Praises Bloomberg's Correction on 'National Dividend' as "Admirable Integrity in Journalism" (Comprehensive)

"Kim Yongbeom's Proposal Is for Excess Tax Revenue Dividends, Not Excess Profit Dividends"
Targeting Certain Domestic Media: "Refusal to Correct Manipulated and Distorted Reports... Should Serve as an Example"

On May 21, President Lee Jae-myung commented on the correction of a Bloomberg News report regarding Blue House Policy Chief Kim Yong-bum's so-called 'National Dividend' proposal, saying, "How dignified and admirable it is to see the press maintain such pride in practicing true and accurate journalism."

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Cabinet Meeting and Emergency Economic Inspection Meeting held at the Blue House on the 20th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) that day, President Lee stated, "A foreign media outlet issued a correction, clarifying that Policy Chief Kim's proposal was not an excess profit dividend but an excess tax revenue dividend, which had been previously misreported."

President Lee also delivered strong criticism toward some domestic media. He said, "It is an attitude that can never be emulated by outlets that deliberately distort or fabricate the news, repeatedly spreading fake news to support certain groups or attack others." He added, "It would be ideal if some domestic media, who persistently engage in politically motivated fabrication and distortion while refusing to issue corrections, could take this as an example."

Previously, Bloomberg had reported on Chief Kim's Facebook post, and was criticized for interpreting the proposal as akin to sharing 'excess profits' from artificial intelligence (AI)-related companies. Bloomberg also suggested at the time that Kim's Facebook post was a factor in the stock market's sharp decline.

The Blue House countered that Chief Kim's intention was not to directly distribute corporate profits, but to explore ways to return to the public any excess tax revenue that the state might collect as a result of the growth of the AI industry. On May 14, the Blue House sent an official letter to Bloomberg, expressing serious concerns about the reporting. In the letter, the Blue House clarified that Chief Kim had never advocated for the redistribution of corporate profits, the imposition of a windfall tax, or the direct transfer of private sector earnings, and pointed out that inaccurate framing had contributed to market confusion.

Subsequently, Bloomberg issued a correction, making it clear that Chief Kim's proposal was about utilizing 'excess tax revenue generated from AI profits.' The report also included the Blue House's stance that the proposal was Kim's personal opinion and not an official government policy.

Earlier, on May 13, President Lee had also addressed the same controversy, stating, "What Chief Kim Yong-bum said was a proposal to consider distributing to the public any excess tax revenue the state receives from excess profits in the AI sector," and rebutted, "The notion of distributing corporate excess profits directly to the public is fake news."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.