South Korea Plans to Use Chip Tax Revenue to Establish Fund to Boost Future Industries

The South Korean government plans to utilize additional tax revenues from the semiconductor industry boom to establish a "Future Response Fund," which will be used to invest in new growth engines, support the younger generation, and address widening economic inequality. Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to President Lee Jae-myung, said at a meeting between the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday (July 5) that the Lee Jae-myung administration will use this fund to provide financial support for major national investment projects and enhance South Korea's long-term competitiveness. Kang noted that the fund will support the government's three "super projects," create new growth drivers, address the so-called "K-shaped" economic divergence, and provide housing, entrepreneurship, and employment support for young people in their 20s and 30s.

He described the fund as the cornerstone of Lee Jae-myung's goal to make South Korea "irreplaceable" in global competition and called for close cooperation between the government and the ruling party to accelerate its implementation.