"Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's profits should be shared with KEPCO too" ... office worker community in uproar [What do you think?]

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[Financial News] Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have been posting unprecedented profits on the back of the recent rebound in the semiconductor industry, but a KEPCO employee has sparked controversy by arguing that part of the chipmakers' excess profits should be shared with KEPCO.
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\r\nAccording to Blind on the 22nd, a user identified as an employee of KEPCO posted a message titled, "Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's profits should also be shared with KEPCO."
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\r\nIn the post, the user argued that "the huge operating profits of semiconductor companies were driven not only by technological competitiveness and the industry cycle, but also in part by low industrial electricity rates."
He also explained that "KEPCO has been criticized for supplying industrial electricity below cost even during the period after the Russia-Ukraine War, when global energy prices surged, and reports in 2022 said the cost recovery rate for industrial electricity tariffs was only 62%."
He added that KEPCO has been forced to shoulder massive accumulated losses and debt burdens. A said, "Its financial burden has grown so large that accumulated debt has been cited at around 200 trillion won."
In particular, he emphasized that "semiconductor fabs are huge power-consuming facilities that operate 24 hours a day, so electricity costs account for a significant share" and that "if power rates remain low, production costs fall, which in turn improves operating profit."
He added, "During periods when the memory market was booming, it is entirely reasonable to say that low electricity rates indirectly contributed to profit gains worth trillions of won."
A also described KEPCO's internal situation, saying, "While losses piled up, KEPCO had to endure worsening public enterprise management evaluations, restrictions on bonuses and wage increases, and pressure to return wages," and added, "It was a structure in which the public sector bore a significant share of the cost to maintain industrial competitiveness."
He concluded by suggesting that "it is necessary to consider the balance between the semiconductor industry's excess profits and KEPCO's social cost burden."
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hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter