Featured Business & Economy 14 December 2022 FTX Wreckage Washes Ashore in South Korea Busan's ambition to be a crypto hub took a hit.
Featured Newsletter 13 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, December 2022 The National Assembly again recommended that a cabinet minister be terminated. Also: The Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s appeals to xenophobic bigotry.
Featured Society 12 December 2022 Overwhelmingly Negative Response to the Handling of Itaewon Disaster: Poll A plurality called for Yoon Suk-yeol's entire cabinet to resign.
Featured Conservatives 9 December 2022 People Power Party Calls for Nuclear Armament The ruling conservative party issued a report proposing “a secret project to secure the potential for nuclear armament” by studying “the optimal course for nuclear armament.”
Featured Society 8 December 2022 Itaewon Disaster Drip-Feeds into Politics Victims' families are beginning to gather, and the National Assembly launched its investigative committee.
Featured Business & Economy 7 December 2022 Truckers Strike Again for Minimum Guaranteed Pay Truck drivers are demanding continuation and expansion of the Freight Safety Fee.
Featured Newsletter 5 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 5, November 2022 The Yoon Suk-yeol administration cracked down on the truckers’ strike. South Korea’s men’s national team made a glorious run in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Featured North Korea 5 December 2022 Greater Attention and Pessimism over North Korean Human Rights: Data More focus, but less hope.
Featured Blue House 2 December 2022 The Ex-President's North Korean Dogs Kim Jong Un's gift became a source of tension between Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk-yeol.
Featured Media 1 December 2022 Yoon Administration Continues to Attack MBC News Exclusion from the ROK Air Force One and massive tax audit are only a prelude of what is to come.
30 November 2022 International Nuptials are Fewer, but More Normalized: Data Credit: Public domain. South Korea’s labor market wasn’t the only thing affected by COVID-19 restrictions. (See previous coverage [https://www.blueroofpolitics.com/post/labor-crunch-threatens-manufacturing/], “ Labor Crunch Threatens Manufacturing.”) South Korea’s marriage market was also affected: according to the Bureau of Statistics 통계청 2021 survey of multicultural demographics,
Featured Newsletter 28 November 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 4, November 2022 Families of the victims of the Itaewon Disaster held their first press conference as the National Assembly opens a legislative investigation.
Featured Business & Economy 28 November 2022 Coupang Finally Turns Profit After Eight Years After years of terrible labor conditions and decline in share price, Coupang is finally making money.
Featured Society 24 November 2022 Itaewon Disaster: a Very International Affair South Korea's elevated stature, and the special meaning of the location, made the Itaewon disaster particularly international.
Featured Society 23 November 2022 Itaewon Disaster: Government Failure at Every Level Police, the District Office and the central government all failed to handle basic duties.
Featured Newsletter 21 November 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, November 2022 President Yoon Suk-yeol continued to battle the press while North Korea fired a new ICBM. Also: TBR’s look at South Korea’s “War on Drugs.”
Featured Business & Economy 21 November 2022 Legoland Bond Crisis Spreads Internationally as Heungkuk Life Rocked Asian Bond Market Heungkuk's Life's non-call of its 30 year bond shook the confidence in Asian bonds generally.
Featured Blue House 19 November 2022 The President's Drinking Buddies Yoon Suk-yeol's infamous drinking habits lead to cancelled meetings and opaque lobbying.
Featured Blue House 18 November 2022 Early Look at the 2027 Presidential Election O Se-hun, Kim Dong-yeon Lead in Favorability Plus-Minus.
Featured Foreign Policy 17 November 2022 Liberal and Conservative Grand Strategies Partisan disagreement as to the joint naval exercise with Japan stems from the different visions of the two parties for South Korea's role in Asia.
Featured Business & Economy 16 November 2022 Legoland Bond Crisis Continues to Choke off South Korea's Capital Market Yoon Suk-yeol administration demanded the Bank of Korea to print more money. The central bank declined.
Featured Newsletter 14 November 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, November 2022 President Yoon Suk-yeol toured Southeast Asia while sidelining the critical press.
Featured Bureaucracy 14 November 2022 Spy Agency Contradicts Yoon Administration's Claim, Says Slain South Korean Civilian was Attempting to Defect into North Korea Claim by the National Intelligence Service directly undermines the Yoon administration's allegations against its predecessor.
Featured Society 12 November 2022 Hijab-less Iranian Climber Whisked from Seoul Elnaz Rekabi was rushed back to Tehran after she competed without a head cover.
Featured Business & Economy 11 November 2022 Lack of Safety Measures at SPC Pastry Factory Kills Worker While the Government Attempts to Roll Back Regulation Industrial accident sparked a mass boycott, but the Yoon administration proposed relaxing the Serious Disasters Act.
Featured Blue House 10 November 2022 Yoon Suk-yeol’s Full Frontal Assault Against the Democratic Party Yoon turns to targeted raids and prosecutions against liberals as he runs out of cards to play.
Featured Business & Economy 9 November 2022 Legoland Default Levels South Korea's Bond Market Lotte E&C takes an emergency loan of KRW 700b while Seoul's largest redevelopment is at the brink of failure.
Featured Newsletter 7 November 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, November 2022 North Korea fired a barrage of missiles and scrambled 180 fighter jets, raising military tensions to new heights. Also: a look at the international dimensions of the Itaewon disaster.
Featured Liberals 7 November 2022 Prosecutors Raid Democratic Party HQ, Arrest Liberal Officials This is the first time since the Park Chung-hee dictatorship that the main opposition party's offices were raided.
Featured Society 5 November 2022 When Do You Get Old? Not at 65: Survey 70 is the new 65, according to a poll.
Featured Business & Economy 4 November 2022 The Politics of the Legoland Bond Crisis Newly elected far-right governor of Gangwon-do Province set off an entirely unnecessary credit crisis.
Featured Business & Economy 3 November 2022 Kakao Talk Outage Leaves South Korea Stranded Data center fire shut down the super-app for days, inviting criticism for poor planning.
Featured Society 2 November 2022 Searching for an Answer in the Itaewon Halloween Disaster Any investigation must answer this simple question: what was different about this event, this year, when Itaewon Halloween festivities have gone on for years?
Featured Newsletter 31 October 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 4, October 2022 South Korea suffered one of the worst public safety lapses in its history as Halloween festivities in Itaewon led to 155 deaths.
Business & Economy 31 October 2022 Largest Gap Ever Between Regular and Irregular Workers: Data South Korea's labor market bifurcation gets worse.
Featured Blue House 31 October 2022 Yoon Suk-yeol Administration Attacks High School Cartoon Drawing Competition Censorship by threats is a time-honored tradition for conservatives.
Featured Breaking News 29 October 2022 Breaking News: Stampede at Itaewon Halloween Party Causes At Least 120 Deaths The disaster is the largest crushing death incident in South Korean history.
Featured Society 28 October 2022 Use of Chinese Characters is Fading, but Most Still Favor Teaching Them: Data More than 650 years since Hangeul was invented, the debate continues.
Featured Starter Kit 27 October 2022 Starter Kit: South Korea’s Media Landscape Conservatives are dominant in the traditional media, while liberals find their outlet on the internet.
Featured Business & Economy 26 October 2022 Proposed ‘Yellow Envelope Act’ Seeks to Protect Striking Workers The proposed law would stop corporations from suing the striking union members in retaliation.
Featured Newsletter 24 October 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, October 2022 Prosecutors raided the main opposition party headquarters for the first time since the dictatorship era, and arrested two Moon Jae-in administration officials. Also: an awful death at South Korea’s largest bakery chain, and the gratuitous Legoland credit crisis.
Featured Bureaucracy 24 October 2022 Interior Ministry Formally Proposes Abolition of the Gender Equality Ministry Abolition of the Gender Equality Ministry was a major campaign promise of Yoon Suk-yeol, who rode the tide of aggressive misogyny.
Featured History 21 October 2022 Supreme Court Orders Reparations for Sex Workers Serving US Military Reminiscent of Imperial Japan's "Comfort Women," the organized sex trade near US bases in Korea involved horrendous human rights violations.
Featured Media 20 October 2022 MBC News Faces Conservative Wrath Once Again South Korea's conservatives have had a longstanding grudge against the network dating back to the Lee Myung-bak era.
Featured Blue House 19 October 2022 "Biden" vs "Nallimyeon": Gaslighting Works for Some For around a quarter of the South Korean public, a clearly audible word is no barrier to believing what they want.
Featured Newsletter 17 October 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, October 2022 North Korea continued to escalate tensions as South Korea debated having its own nuclear weapons. Also: the partisan visions of South Korea's grand strategy.
Featured Society 15 October 2022 The Old School Dreams of Young Men Outside of Seoul Young men in industrial cities dream of forming a traditional family. Critics have called it sexism.
Featured Conservatives 14 October 2022 Potential New Party of Lee Jun-seok Draws Solid Support: Data The ousted former party chairman could be a meaningful third party option.
Featured Society 13 October 2022 The New Landscape of South Korean Politics A statistical breakdown shows six major groups of voters in South Korean politics that go beyond the traditional left-right divide.
