Lee, Koo Yooncheol, and Kim Jeonggwan Slam "Fake News on Inheritance Tax"... Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Issues Official Apology (Comprehensive)

President Lee Jaemyung and the heads of the economic ministries spent the entire weekend harshly denouncing as "fake news" a press release from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which claimed that "the number of high-net-worth individuals leaving the country due to inheritance tax has surged."

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On February 7, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol countered this via Facebook, saying, "The claim that 2,400 wealthy people are leaving Korea because of the burden of inheritance tax is fake news." He added, "The estimated figures are statistics whose reliability is highly questionable," and pointed out that "foreign media and research institutions have also raised numerous issues regarding these data."

Deputy Prime Minister Koo stressed, "The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry must be held appropriately accountable for producing and distributing a press release based on flawed statistics." He went on to say, "I also ask the media to exercise caution so that reports using such statistics are not published."

Minister of Trade and Industry Kim Jeonggwan likewise stated, "We will go beyond strong regret and take firm action," adding, "We will immediately conduct an audit into the entire process of drafting and distributing the press release and into all related facts, and we will hold those responsible strictly accountable based on the results." National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Gwanghyeon also refuted the claim, citing data from a full survey of emigrants: "The average number of people who filed emigration reports over the past three years is 2,904 per year, and among them, those with assets of 1 billion won or more number only 139 per year on average."

Koo Yuncheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance.

The data from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry criticized by the economic policymakers were released on February 4. In a press release titled "Analysis of Inheritance Tax Revenue Outlook and Study on the Effects of Diversifying Payment Methods," the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry quoted data from Henley & Partners, a British immigration consulting firm, and stated that "the net outflow of wealthy individuals from Korea is projected to reach 2,400 people in 2025, the fourth-largest figure in the world." The release also included a comment from an official at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry that "an inheritance tax rate reaching 50 to 60 percent can serve as a main factor accelerating the outflow of capital overseas."

In response, on February 7 President Lee wrote on his X (X, formerly Twitter) account, "Acts of producing and disseminating fake news to pursue private interests and attack government policy deserve to be condemned," adding, "It is unbelievable that the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an official organization established by law, is openly engaging in such conduct." He went on to say, "Deliberate fake news intended to cloud the judgment of the sovereign people is an enemy of democracy."

As the controversy grew, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a press release bowing its head, saying, "We deeply apologize for having cited external statistics without sufficient verification and thereby causing unnecessary confusion."

It continued, "To prevent any recurrence of such cases in the future, we will, based on a strong sense of responsibility, thoroughly verify the facts and the accuracy of statistics when preparing materials," adding, "We will be even more careful by strengthening our internal systems so that our work can be checked objectively."