U.S. Big Tech Stocks Noted by Science Minister Nominee Baek Kyun

Holds Meta, MS Stocks After Gifting to Daughter
56.47 Million Won Invested in AI-Selected ETF
Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for July 10

It has been reported that the underage daughter of Science and ICT Minister nominee Baek Kyun holds deposits and securities worth up to 100 million won through a gift, drawing attention for including shares of major U.S. big tech companies in her portfolio. She has invested in U.S. big tech companies involved in artificial intelligence (AI) development, such as Meta Platforms (hereafter Meta), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Microsoft (MS), as well as in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) where AI, instead of humans, selects investment targets.

According to the National Assembly's request for a confirmation hearing and other documents on June 30, Baek Kyun's eldest daughter, who was born in 2012 and is 13 years old, holds deposits and securities worth up to 100 million won. Among these, she owns Meta and MS shares valued at 21.04 million won and 7.99 million won, respectively. Baek Kyun reported a total of 3,697,670,000 won in assets under his own, his spouse's, and his only daughter's names.

Notably, all the U.S. big tech companies invested in by his daughter are AI-related stocks. Meta recently established a "superintelligence" research lab to develop virtual AI systems surpassing human capabilities, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly leading the recruitment of top AI talent. Meta invested 20 trillion won in Scale AI, a data labeling startup with only 900 employees, and recruited the company's CEO, Alexander Wang, who is 28 years old. MS acquired the AI startup Inflection for $650 million last year, making headlines by stipulating that CEO Mustafa Suleyman and most of the AI development staff would join MS as part of the deal.

Baek Kyun's daughter also holds 56.47 million won worth of shares in the ETF "LG Craft AI-Power US Large Cap Core" (LQAI), developed by LG AI Research, where Baek Kyun previously served as head. This ETF invests in large U.S. companies using AI instead of human decision-making. The AI model selects 100 stocks out of the top 500 large-cap U.S. stocks every four weeks. The remaining approximately 15 million won is held in deposits.

Science and ICT Minister nominee Baek Kyun is arriving at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at Gwanghwamun Post Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 24th. Photo by Yonhap News

On the morning of the same day, the Ministry of Science and ICT released a press reference stating, "After gifting 100 million won to his child and paying the gift tax, the nominee purchased stocks based on recommendations from a securities firm employee for the purpose of investing in the child's future."

The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for Baek Kyun on July 10. According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, the relevant National Assembly committee must complete the hearing within 15 days of receiving the request. President Lee Jaemyung submitted the confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly on June 27.