Kim Keon-hee Sentenced to Four Years in Prison on Appeal.

• Kim Keon-hee’s charges fall into three main categories: first, stock price manipulation at Deutsche Motors; second, receiving money and goods from the Unification Church; and third, the Myeong Tae-gyun poll scandal.
• In the January first trial, only the Unification Church bribery was acknowledged, resulting in a sentence of one year and eight months in prison.
• Yesterday’s appeal court found Kim Keon-hee had participated in market manipulation.
• “The provision of accounts with an agreement to share 40% of the profits goes beyond tolerating market manipulation—it constitutes active participation with intent to jointly execute the scheme,” the ruling stated.
• The Chanel bag, previously acquitted in the first trial, was now deemed guilty.
• The sentence was increased to four years in prison, a 50 million won fine, and the confiscation of the Graff necklace received from the Unification Church, with an additional 2.094 million won ordered to be reclaimed.
• The Myeong Tae-gyun poll scandal remains not guilty.
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What Matters Now.

KOSPI 6701.

• KOSPI rose 1.3%. Institutions net-bought 350 billion won, while foreigners and individuals net-sold 180 billion and 130 billion won, respectively.
• The market cap of the Korean stock market is $3.3 trillion, ranking 8th behind Taiwan’s $3.5 trillion. At this rate, it could catch up soon.

Energy Crisis: Alert and Severe Stages.

• If elevated to the severe stage, public transportation will be expanded to a level comparable to a city bus strike. This is the comprehensive plan announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at yesterday’s State Council meeting.
• Public officials will increase staggered commuting by up to 50%.
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“Wasn’t the Prosecutors’ Target Always ‘That Person’?”.

• Kim Sung-tae (former chairman of Ssangbangwool) said this while testifying at the National Assembly.
• He admitted to sending $8 million to North Korea in collusion with Lee Hwa-young (then Gyeonggi Province vice governor) but claimed he never met Lee Jae-myung (then Gyeonggi Province governor).
• He dismissed the salmon-and-sake party allegations as baseless. While describing the prosecution’s investigation as coercive, he insisted he was not coerced.
• There were suspicions that Ssangbangwool corporate cards were used to buy soju. Park Sang-woong (then Ssangbangwool director) said, “I couldn’t live without alcohol because the pain was too much,” adding, “I drank it in the car.”
• Kim’s remarks left both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party flustered. “The world has changed, but I gained nothing and only suffered,” he said, “It’s just like the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.”
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Deep Dive.

America Started It, but Iran Will Decide When It Ends.

• That’s the Financial Times’ analysis. Wars end when one side wins or both are exhausted. The US-Iran conflict has already reached a stalemate where neither can win outright—and the key now is how long Iran can hold out.
• Iran’s consumer price inflation hit 67% year-on-year in March.
• The Financial Times predicts that China’s role will be decisive. The US is avoiding blocking ships bound for China while sealing the Strait of Hormuz, fearing that provoking Beijing would be counterproductive.
• If China continues to back Iran, the war could drag on much longer.
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“Can’t We Defend Ourselves Without Foreign Troops?”.

• Lee Jae-myung (President) said this at a State Council meeting.
• South Korea’s defense spending is 1.4 times North Korea’s annual GDP.
• “A nation should defend itself—why depend on others? We should obviously be capable,” he stated, asserting that wartime operational control will be fully restored by 2028.
• In Global Firepower’s military rankings (excluding nuclear weapons), South Korea ranks 5th globally, while North Korea is 31st.
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Another Take.

“A Coup Plotter as a Metropolitan Mayor Candidate?”.

• MBC Newsdesk’s closing commentary.
• “Back on December 3rd, when the nation anxiously awaited the National Assembly’s vote to lift martial law, the spectacle of Choo Kyung-ho (then People Power Party floor leader) was as shocking as the martial law itself.”
• “That chaotic night—when, after changing the meeting venue three times during the critical hours, a majority of People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the vote to lift martial law—is still vivid in many citizens’ memories. We must ask what it means to nominate a defendant charged with ‘participation in a coup’ as a metropolitan mayor candidate.”
• The People Power Party protested, calling it “an electioneering narrative trying to sway voters in a specific direction.” They insist they will refuse coverage unless MBC apologizes.
• The Kyunghyang Shinmun editorial argued, “Reflection must come first.” “Legally, one may claim innocence, but political accountability is a separate matter.”
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South Korea: The Only Country Charging Network Usage Fees.

• U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) posted an unexpected statement on X: “No country in the world imposes network usage fees on internet traffic. South Korea is the only exception.”
• It criticized 10 trade barriers, citing South Korea as an example.
• “In Costa Rica, customs inspectors crush black and red beans between their fingers to test cooking speed—and if the beans fail this absurd test, U.S.-grown dried beans are blocked. Such a scenario is unimaginable!”
• While framed as an absurd trade barrier, the network fee is actually a contractual matter between telecom companies like SK Telecom and KT, and service providers like Naver or Kakao. Google does not pay network fees.
• The claim that only South Korea imposes such fees is also untrue. The European Union is also considering ways to share network costs.
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6,795 Suspected Child Abuse Cases Repeatedly Reported.

• 16% of the 43,050 children reported.
• In Germany, if abuse is repeatedly suspected, children can be moved to protective facilities or parental rights restricted even without parental consent.
• Seo Beom-su (People Power Party lawmaker) noted, “Management of repeated reports must be strengthened.”
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2065 Civil Servant Pension Deficit to Reach 23 Trillion Won.

• It will grow to 0.7% of GDP. Last year, the deficit was 8.7 trillion won.
• The accrued liabilities—pensions to be paid to public officials in the future, converted to present value—stood at 1,052 trillion won as of 2024.
• Yoon Seok-myeong (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs researcher) noted, “Tinkering only with the National Pension while ignoring civil servant pension reform is nothing but a stopgap measure, like a snake slithering over a wall to evade the situation.”
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The Fix.

Public Sector Non-Regular Workers to Receive Up to 248,000 Won in Fairness Allowance.

• Lee Jae-myung (former Gyeonggi Governor) introduced the system during his tenure. Many employers hire non-regular workers for under a year to avoid severance pay, but setting the fairness allowance higher than severance pay reduces the incentive to hire non-regular workers.
• While contracts under one year are banned in principle, a fixed allowance of 8.5–10% is paid at termination, based on 118% of the minimum wage depending on contract length.
• Even one month of work qualifies for 38,000 won in fairness allowance. The idea is to provide greater compensation for higher job insecurity.
• The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) issued a statement: “Comprehensive audits and legal guarantees of treatment must come first.”
• The Korea Daily criticized in an editorial: “Indirectly regulating contract periods could increase corporate burdens and paradoxically worsen employment flexibility.”
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30% Reduction in Plastic Waste Derived from Petroleum.

• Targeted for 2030, four years from now.
• A 100% recycled PET bottle appeared at yesterday’s State Council meeting.
• From this year, businesses using over 5,000 tons of transparent PET bottles must use at least 10% recycled material. By 2020, the mandatory threshold will expand to 1,000 tons, with the usage rate raised to 30%.
• Recycled materials cost 1.3–1.5 times more.
• The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements criticized, “The policy’s focus should shift from waste management to production and design stages.”

Three Hurdles to Reusable Containers in Funeral Homes.

• First, it’s optional. Out of 1,080 facilities, only 140 are restricted from using disposables—those with cooking and cleaning facilities.
• Second, management is cumbersome. They’re heavier, take up more space, and require additional staff.
• Third, disposables are significantly cheaper.
• Seoul Medical Center’s funeral home, which uses reusables, eliminated 1.9 million disposable containers annually. Trash bags dropped from over 10,000 to 1,500. Costs fell by 265 million won, but transitioning to reusables cost 584 million won.

Solar+Wind Share at 33.8%.

• Global aggregated statistics analyzed by energy think tank Ember. Fossil fuels still account for 57.4%.
• Last year, global power generation was 31,799 TWh.
• An additional 849 TWh was generated last year, with solar and wind increasing by 638 TWh and 205 TWh respectively. Fossil fuels decreased by 38 TWh.
• South Korea generated 600 TWh, about 2%. Its energy transition pace is relatively slow. Fossil fuels account for 65%, while renewables are around 10%.
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ICYMI.

Q1 Album Exports Reach $124 Million.

• Album exports are rising in the digital streaming era. The BTS comeback effect is significant—2.6 times higher than Q1 last year.
• Projections suggest annual exports will far exceed $300 million this year.
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Mortgage Rates Rise to 4.34%.

• Up for six consecutive months since October last year, when it was 3.98%.
• Bank delinquencies are rising, as are card loan applications—the last resort for struggling borrowers. Delinquent amounts total 14 trillion won, with a delinquency rate of 0.56%.
• The Bank of Korea will decide on the base rate on the 28th of next month. The Monetary Policy Committee has kept the base rate frozen at 2.5% for 11 consecutive months.

UAE Exits OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

• The UAE is the second to leave, following Qatar.
• It has opposed Saudi Arabia-led production cut policies. Increased crude output is likely.
• The UAE ranks sixth in proven oil reserves and third in production, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Trump’s Face on U.S. Passports.

• It’s a passport commemorating the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, yet it features Trump’s face and signature.
• They renamed the ‘Kennedy Center’ to the ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ and the ‘Institute for Peace’ to the ‘Donald Trump Institute for Peace.’

Worth Reading.

How to Avoid Hating Those Who Think Differently.

• Republican supporters believed 32% of Democrats were LGBT, while the actual figure is around 6%. Democratic supporters believed 38% of Republicans earned over $250,000 annually, but the reality is 2%.
• Partisan hostility often stems from misconceptions. Some see a duck, others a rabbit. Instead of persuading those who see a duck to see a rabbit, the first step is accepting we perceive different images.
• The goal should not be to change beliefs to reach consensus, but to reduce the ripple effects of beliefism.
• Paul Dolan (Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science) proposed seven methods to mitigate beliefism in his book, “The Illusion of Saving the World Through Beliefs.”
• E: Understand each other’s different environments (Environment),
• M: Tolerate the other’s mistakes (Mistakes),
• B: Bond over shared connections despite conflict on specific issues (Bonding),
• R: Seek reason through more concrete evidence (Reason),
• A: Pay more attention to emotional responses (Affect),
• C: Combine diverse perspectives and people in decision-making (Collection),
• E: Design exposure to spend more time with those who think differently (Exposure)—could this make a difference?
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Trump Is Just a Puppet.

• Gil Yun-hyung (Hankyoreh columnist) pointed out, “Only by erasing Trump can the essence of the war be seen.” It is ultimately Israel that set the stage for this war. As the U.S. and Iran entered a ceasefire, Israel struck Lebanon hard.
• Israel is currently riding on the back of the American giant, waging war for free. From Israel’s perspective, there is no reason to retreat. The U.S.? After pouring missiles into the conflict, it now tries to resolve it diplomatically—unlikely to succeed.
• The narrative is that this war, dragged along by Netanyahu, will not end easily.
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