Featured Business & Economy 22 February 2023 Semiconductor Market Craters, Dragging Down South Korea’s Exports Foundry manufacturing is the sole bright spot in otherwise grim times for South Korea's semiconductor production.
Featured Newsletter 20 February 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, February 2023 For the first time in South Korean history, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration sought to arrest the sitting opposition leader.
Featured Society 20 February 2023 South Korean Democracy Backslides in EIU Survey Transition from Moon Jae-in to Yoon Suk-yeol led to a retreat of democracy in South Korea.
Liberals 17 February 2023 [Book Review] Mr. President: Putting on a Show for Moon Jae-in Credit: Medici Media. Despite their power and influence, presidential staff members tend to be anonymous bureaucrats. But former Blue House Secretary of Protocol Tak Hyeon-min 탁현민 전 청와대 의전비서관 has been a lightning rod for conservative criticism. The criticism came largely because he was good at his job: making his
Featured Society 16 February 2023 “Heating Bill Bomb” Detonates into Politics Doubled gas bills arriving shortly before the Lunar New Year are pressuring the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
Featured Newsletter 14 February 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, February 2023 Court decisions regarding the Daejang-dong real estate scandal and the First Lady’s stock pump-and-dump scheme stirred controversy.
Featured Society 14 February 2023 Subway Ridership Does Not Affect Support for Disability Activists' Subway Protest: Data Political orientation, not subway ridership, determined the support for protests that slow down the trains.
Featured Business & Economy 13 February 2023 Will the National Pension Service Survive? South Korea's rapidly graying population pressures the world's second largest pension fund.
Featured Key Players 11 February 2023 Moon Jae-in’s New Career: Bookstore Owner Former president decides to take his bibliophilia a step further.
Featured Society 10 February 2023 Nearly 130k Young Shut-Ins in Seoul: Data Difficulty finding a job or loss of job was the leading cause of social isolation.
Featured Business & Economy 9 February 2023 Coffee in South Korea: Starbucks, Ediya Reign While Mega Challenges South Korea's coffee scene has seen a dramatic improvement in recent years.
Featured National Assembly 8 February 2023 Legislative Investigation of the Itaewon Disaster Recommends Charges for Perjury for Yoon Administration Officials The ruling People Power Party boycotted the legislative report.
Featured Newsletter 6 February 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, February 2023 The Democratic Party moved to impeach the Interior Minister over the Itaewon Disaster. Also: a look into South Korean media’s symbiotic relationship with the conservative government.
Featured Media 6 February 2023 KCC Official Arrested for Attacking TV Chosun Conservative cable news channel nearly lost its license because of sensationalism and falsehood. Now the Yoon administration is attacking the officials who made that judgment.
Featured Business & Economy 3 February 2023 Mushroom Sales: a Recession Indicator Mushroom, kombu, and paprika sales predict an economic downturn.
Featured Starter Kit 2 February 2023 South Korea and the Middle East: a Primer South Korea has long had a mercantilist approach in the Arab world, which is increasingly difficult to maintain.
Featured Business & Economy 1 February 2023 January 3 Real Estate Plan: a Desperate Bid to Revive the Market Yoon administration removed nearly all regulations designed to prevent speculation in hopes that buyers will return.
Featured Newsletter 30 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 4, January 2023 Soaring heating bills put pressure on the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The People Power Party continued its internal squabbles over the chairman race, while the Democratic Party battled prosecutors.
Featured Blue House 30 January 2023 0% Truth from the Office of the President, Says SNU Fact Check Center Not a single disputed statement from the presidential office was true.
Featured Society 28 January 2023 Obituary: Cho Se-hui, 80, Novelist of The Dwarf The Dwarf, which described and denounced the urban poverty in South Korea's growth era, is among the most influential novels of the late 20th century.
Featured Business & Economy 27 January 2023 Serial Deaths of “Villa Kings” Expose the Weakness of the Jeonse System Suspicious demise of highly leveraged real estate holders left thousands of tenants in a bind.
Featured Conservatives 26 January 2023 People Power Party's Game of Thrones Trying to strengthen his grip over the ruling party, Yoon Suk-yeol bulldozes over potential challengers.
Featured Society 25 January 2023 Numerous Journalists Received Bribes from Daejang-dong Ringleader The bribed journalists took a critical stance against Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party.
Featured Newsletter 23 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, January 2023 Yoon Suk-yeol again found trouble abroad as he declared Iran “our enemy” while on a visit to the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Yoon’s spy agency raided progressive groups and labor unions, claiming they were communist spies.
Featured Blue House 23 January 2023 "Nothing": Most Common Answer for "What Did Yoon Administration Do Well?" Labor policy, real estate policy were next.
Featured Blue House 20 January 2023 Yoon Pardons Lee Myung-bak and Former Park Geun-hye Administration Officials Mass pardon cancelled out virtually all punishment for corruption and abuse of authority in the two conservative administrations.
Featured National Security 19 January 2023 North Korean Drones: Yoon Responds with Ignorance and Bluster Unable to do anything against North Korean drones, Yoon Suk-yeol called for nuclear armament and "expansion of war."
Featured Blue House 18 January 2023 Yoon Administration Proposes 69-hour Work Week The new proposal would allow up to 80.5 hours of work per week.
Featured Newsletter 16 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, January 2023 Yoon Suk-yeol called for South Korea’s nuclear armament. Also: the internal strife within the People Power Party for the party chair election.
Featured Society 16 January 2023 “Korean Age”: Meaningless Change in Law Delights International Media No, Koreans did not get a year younger.
Featured Business & Economy 13 January 2023 Dunchon-dong Redevelopment Project Subscription Augurs Trouble Anemic demand for new luxury condos signals rough roads ahead for Seoul's real estate market.
Featured Blue House 12 January 2023 Yoon Administration Appeals to Xenophobia, Attacks Immigrants Despite the need for immigrants to combat demographic decline, conservatives stoke racist bigotry for political gain.
Featured Key Players 11 January 2023 Roh Ok-hee, 64, Ulsan Superintendent Who Fought for Disadvantaged Students Roh was a labor activist who advocated for Afghan students resettled in Ulsan.
Featured Newsletter 9 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, January 2023 North Korean drones fly into Seoul's no-fly zone. TBR's first newsletter of 2023 is super-sized to catch up on the last two weeks of South Korean politics news.
Featured Conservatives 9 January 2023 Conservatives Seek to Limit Voting Rights for Foreign Nationals Measure is aimed at ethnic Koreans who are Chinese nationals.
Featured Business & Economy 6 January 2023 Credit Crunch Crushes Startups South Korea’s start-up companies are the latest victims of fallout from the Legoland Bond Crisis.
Featured Business & Economy 5 January 2023 In the Truckers’ Strike, the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration Sees Opportunity Crackdown on labor unions is buoying the unpopular administration.
Featured Society 4 January 2023 Rural Extinction in Numbers: Data When a town falls below 2,000 residents, it can no longer support basic necessities like a restaurant, laundromat or barbershop.
Featured Media 3 January 2023 MBC Cleans up in Ratings Since Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration, the liberal-leaning TV station soared in viewership.
Featured Blue House 2 January 2023 First Lady Clearly Involved Stock Manipulation Scheme, Still Faces No Investigation Deutsche Motors stock manipulation trial continues to produce evidence against Kim Geon-hee.
Featured Announcement 30 December 2022 TBR's Most Read Stories of 2022, and a Special Thank You The Blue Roof's had a successful second year.
Featured Blue House 29 December 2022 2022 Year in Review: An Error-Ridden Beginning for Yoon Suk-yeol, with More to Come Failing both domestically and internationally, Yoon Suk-yeol focused solely on attacking his adversaries with selective application of the law. Expect more of the same in 2023.
Featured Society 28 December 2022 ‘Erring Without Correction': 2022 Idiom of the Year Runner-up: "What is covered up only shines brighter."
Featured Culture 27 December 2022 Move Over BTS: Im Yeong-ung and IU Take Top Spots of 2022's Best Poll shows younger generation favoring K-pop's most streamed artists, while the older generation gravitated toward trot superstar.
Featured Conservatives 26 December 2022 Yoon Administration Takes Jeju Massacre Out of History Textbooks Ministry of Education justified the move as "exploring the foundation of the Republic of Korea based on liberal democracy."
Featured Society 23 December 2022 2022 Qatar World Cup: South Korea Delivers Instant Classic Defeating Portugal 2-1, the Taegeuk Warriors reached the Round of 16 for just the third time in eleven tries.
Featured Newsletter 21 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, December 2022 A year in review in TBR's final newsletter for 2022.
Featured Conservatives 19 December 2022 Seoul City Council Shuts Down TBS Radio for Hosting a Popular Liberal Pundit Seoul Mayor O Se-hun: "TBS should reflect on whether it has been faithful to its role as a publicly owned station."
Featured Media 16 December 2022 International Press Shines in Itaewon Disaster Coverage The excellent coverage by the foreign press is putting the South Korean press to shame.
Featured Society 15 December 2022 South Korea's War on Drugs A "drug-free nation" begins its own problematic program.
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