A People Power Party lawmaker accused President Lee Jae Myung's office on Sunday of unfairly pressuring US news outlet Bloomberg over its recent reports about the controversial "citizen dividend" remarks.
Five-term Rep. Na Kyung-won of Korea's main opposition party claimed in a Facebook post that the liberal administration was taking its anger out on Bloomberg by reportedly demanding an apology, arguing that the administration itself was responsible for the market confusion.
"It was Cheong Wa Dae that fanned the flames from the beginning," Na noted, referring to presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom's proposal Tuesday to distribute excess tax revenue resulting from "excess profits" of chipmakers from the global chip boom and calls to address deepening economic polarization.
"Its true intentions of treating the achievements of artificial intelligence innovation as a means for its populist scheme cannot be obscured," Na added.
Bloomberg's report, released 11:28 a.m. Tuesday, noted a sharp drop in chip stocks after Kim "said in a Facebook post that a portion of the profits and tax revenue derived from the artificial intelligence boom 'should be structurally returned to all citizens.'"
An update 40 minutes later said these losses had been reduced "after Kim clarified he wanted to tap into 'excess tax revenue' generated from the AI boom rather than roll out a new windfall tax on corporate profits."
The Kospi lost around 2 percent in the afternoon as volatility continued for the rest of the day.
Na called the presidential office's letter of formal complaint to Bloomberg — which claimed the outlet's report inaccurately framed Kim's proposal — "an arrogant letter," adding that it mirrored the moves against local news outlets to "control the media if it does not suit (the current administration's) tastes."
People Power Party Chair Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok also said on Facebook on Saturday that it was Cheong Wa Dae that must apologize for confusion, not Bloomberg.
However, Rep. Lee Ju-hee of the Democratic Party said in a statement Saturday that Bloomberg had made an "obvious error" in its reporting.
"Correcting factual errors is a duty of the government. Freedom of the press does not extend to the right to cause confusion in the market," Lee noted.
"Requesting corrections based on accurate grounds regarding parts of Bloomberg's report is a common-sense measure to safeguard the credibility of national administration and resolve uncertainty in our economy."
consnow@heraldcorp.com
