Slow Letter is
a curated snapshot of Korea.

We go beyond the headlines, connect the dots, and show you what really matters — with insight and edge. We surface the stories behind the noise and bring the context you didn’t know you needed. It’s not just about what’s happening. It’s about why it matters.

This English edition combines AI-powered translation with careful human editing — using Upstage Solar-Pro-2 — and it’s still in beta mode.We’re learning as we go, and your feedback is invaluable.

Lee Jae-myung’s Approval Rating at 43%.

• Results from a Realmeter survey.
• The decline in support among women in their 20s and 30s is notable: 35.8% for women in their 20s, 40.7% for those in their 30s.
• Critics note that the voices of women in their 20s and 30s were not heeded during the process of stripping prosecutors of investigative powers. Dissatisfaction with the tax reform proposal is also higher among this demographic.
• While Realmeter’s ARS method shows gaps compared to phone surveys like Gallup Korea, the trends in each have significance.
• There were times when the gap between the Democratic Party’s approval rating and Lee’s was over 10 percentage points, but since last month, they have been seesawing. Some speculate whether the “old Democratic Party” and the “new Lee Jae-myung” are diverging.
• Related Link.

What Matters Now.

“At the Speed of Kumamoto, Japan.”.

• Accelerating the mega-project. Lee Jae-myung (President) said, “The site and infrastructure are crucial,” adding, “I hope it proceeds at a speed no less than that of Kumamoto, Japan.”
• The TSMC plant in Kumamoto, Japan, took 3 years and 2 months from construction announcement to semiconductor mass production.
• Construction on the 246 trillion won project in the Chungcheong region and the 107 trillion won project in the Yeongnam region will begin this year.
• “ I didn’t expect things to move this fast, I’m so grateful, ” was reportedly said.
• Related Link.

“Beyond Speed War, It’s Now a Blitzkrieg Situation.”.

• For now, the Gwangju military airport will be temporarily relocated to another airport.
• Originally, the plan was to build a military airport at Muan Airport and relocate it later—but the timeline has been accelerated. Work will begin immediately on site preparation, starting with the ammunition depot site.

Full Review of Tax Reform Proposal.

• Critics say the plan has become a patchwork mess within a week.
• The comprehensive real estate tax, in particular, has grown so convoluted that it’s been likened to a “random number table.”
• Park Hoon (Professor, University of Seoul) stated, “The tax reform proposal has become overly complex, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to understand,” adding, “Co-owners of high-value properties now require tax accountants’ assistance every time they pay taxes.”
• Backlash is also strong over increased tax burdens for married couples who jointly own a single home.
• In an editorial, The Hankyoreh noted, “While upholding the principle of fair taxation, a posture of addressing shortcomings is necessary.”
• Related Link.
• Related Link.

“Credit Card Deduction Cut Is De Facto Tax Hike.”.

• VAT for convenience stores with annual sales of 990 million won is projected to rise from 17 million to 22 million won.
• Kwak Dae-jung (former spokesperson, Reform Party) criticized, “They’re handing out 150,000 won in relief funds while squeezing an extra 5 million won in taxes from small business owners.”
• The government claims this is part of normalizing a temporary measure.
• A Ministry of Economy and Finance official stated, “Businesses with annual card sales under 400 million won will see tax deductions capped at 5 million won, meaning the reduction won’t significantly change their tax burden.”
• Related Link.

Deep Dive.

Tax Overhaul Deepens Discrimination.

• An Jang-won (senior reporter, JoongAng Ilbo) assessed, “Concerns about side effects and aftershocks are also significant.”
• The tax burden for three 1-billion-won homes will immediately outweigh that of one 3-billion-won home. Currently, comprehensive real estate taxes are 7.75 million won and 10.03 million won respectively, but after 2028, the gap will widen to 10.02 million won and 27.07 million won.
• An Jang-won warned, “This is because the government refuses to abandon its fixation that ‘multiple homeowners = speculators,’” adding, “This will only further shrink private housing supply.”
• “Focus should not be on the number of homes, but whether housing serves as stable residences. Is a home not a home if the owner lives there, but only if a tenant lives there?”
• Related Link.

“We Thought They Had a Secret Weapon.”.

• Critics argue this is just Season Two of the Roh Moo-hyun-Moon Jae-in administrations—tying loans and raising taxes.
• Five debates only discussed buying and selling; rental market solutions were never a priority.
• Ko Hyun-gon (Chosun Ilbo Editor-at-Large) assessed, “Policies have lost credibility, and asset markets are in chaos.”
• “They underestimated the market and got humbled. The arrogance of ‘no market can beat the government’ led to this,” he added.
• Related Link.

Another Take.

Loan Ceiling Fuels a Scramble for Credit.

• Loans are becoming a first-come, first-served game. As the government moves to cap household debt, fears of tightening credit by year’s end are driving people to secure loans early.
• JoongAng Ilbo described this as a “loan FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out) phenomenon. Exceeding targets creates a loan cliff, which in turn pulls forward demand—a vicious cycle.
• The five major banks’ household loan balances have swelled to 650 trillion won. They’ve already exceeded this year’s growth target by over 1 trillion won.

Not an Exit, but an Expulsion.

• “The U.S. didn’t get stuck in the Middle East. It pushed itself deeper. That’s why the U.S. isn’t escaping the Middle East—it’s being expelled.”
• Jeong Ui-gil (Senior Reporter, The Hankyoreh) analyzed. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump reportedly told key White House advisors, “I’m willing to withdraw separately from nuclear negotiations.” The original goal was to halt the nuclear program, but now the objective is to end the war.
• With less than three months until midterm elections, negotiations are unlikely to proceed properly. The plan was to declare victory by simply opening the Strait of Hormuz, but that too is proving difficult.
• Israel is another wildcard. Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister) stated, “We can confront even our closest friends if it’s for Israel’s security.” He has no intention of ending the war. Netanyahu himself is desperate for a victory ahead of upcoming elections.
• Related Link.
• Related Link.

A Cleaner’s Fatal Accident While Working Alone Reveals Systemic Neglect.

• Originally, workers were supposed to operate in three-person teams—but private contractors are exempt.
• The cleaner who died in the 2 a.m. accident was working alone, driving and collecting trash. He stepped out with the gear in drive, tried to stop the moving truck, and was crushed against a building wall.
• This accident would never have happened if a coworker had been present.
• Ultimately, it’s a cost issue. In an editorial, The Hankyoreh criticized, “Considering how local governments spend budgets recklessly on publicity projects and mayoral legacy events, it’s absurd that they try to cut costs on essential services like waste collection.”
• Related Link.

Soaring U.S. Treasury Yields.

• Highest levels since 2007. The 30-year rate has risen to 5.27%. The 10-year rate is at 4.65%.
• Rising rates push up mortgage costs and sour public sentiment.
• Janet Yellen (U.S. Treasury Secretary) has three tools to calm Treasury yields.
• First, intervening in the foreign exchange market to buy yen,
• Second, possibly reducing Treasury issuance volumes.
• Third, publicly endorsing Jerome Powell (Fed Chair).
• John Velis (BNY strategist) said, “Given the fiscal spending trajectory and the war context, it will be difficult to ease the pressure on long-term bonds.”
• Related Link.
• Related Link.

Leverage Curb Takes Hold.

• After raising the deposit requirement for single-stock leveraged ETFs from 10 million won to 30 million won, the market is stabilizing.
• Trading volume has already dropped from 12.4 trillion won on the 30th of last month to 0.8 trillion won on the 7th.
• The KOSPI 200 Volatility Index, dubbed the “fear gauge,” once spiked to 97.99 but fell to 69.88 yesterday. Bloomberg assessed, “Signs of cooling are emerging, with volatility in Korean equities subsiding.”
• Samsung Electronics + Nicks remains sluggish, but other stocks are rebounding.
• KOSDAQ has also surged. It rose from 644.8 on the 30th of last month to 854.5 yesterday.
• Related Link.

The Fix.

53% and 61% Reduction Plans Were Identical.

• While the 2035 national greenhouse gas reduction target (NDC) was set as a range of 53–61%, the sector-specific reduction volumes were identical in both the 53% and 61% proposals. Only the additional reduction items differed.
• Criticism is unavoidable: the government announced figures without concretely defining reduction targets.
• The additional items lacked specified responsible entities or concrete implementation plans.
• In an editorial, Kyunghyang Shinmun criticized, “The government called the 61% reduction a ‘challenging’ target, but it turned out to be mere window-dressing—just swapping the target number.”
• Related Link.

Even Existing Plans Add 41.7 Million Tons in Cuts.

• Industrial sector targets are 67.1 million tons under the 53% reduction plan and 76.9 million tons under the 61% plan.
• Plan 1.5 analyzed that an additional 34.8 million tons could be cut in industry and 6.9 million tons in refrigerants.
• First, it estimated that steel industry emission forecasts should be revised downward by 3.8 million tons.
• Second, adding direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace (DRI-EAF) processes could cut an additional 4.59 million tons.
• Third, cement decarbonization is highly effective. While the government plans to raise blended cement share to 40%, Plan 1.5 pointed out it could reach 60%.
• Fourth, expanding zero-carbon naphtha cracking (NCC) and reducing refrigerant extraction are among the additional feasible measures, it noted.

America’s Solar Tariff Whack-a-Mole.

• U.S. authorities tightly control Chinese solar panel imports but struggle to block all indirect inflows through third countries.
• Solar production hubs keep shifting to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, India, Ethiopia, South Korea, and the Philippines.
• China dominates 86% of global solar panels, 92% of cells, 97% of wafers, and 93% of polysilicon (as of 2024).
• The U.S. imposes tariffs not only on panels but also on wafers, cells, and modules—a whack-a-mole scenario that hasn’t revived domestic competitiveness.
• American solar prices have surged to more than double the global average. Installations are also declining.
• Related Link.

Housing Supply at 103%, Yet 550,000 Households Remain Vulnerably Housed.

• From 400,000 households a decade ago, the number has kept rising—2.3% of all households.
• 51% of housing-vulnerable households are concentrated in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

Why Fukushima Became a City Young Women Love.

• It’s the effect of female-led population policies. Since 2016, they’ve disclosed average overtime hours at major companies, numbers of parental leave users, and counts of male and female managers.
• Yang Seung-hoon (Professor, Kyungnam University) pointed out, “Regions where young women have no intention of settling cannot sustain even as places where residents feel minimal dignity.”
• “The response needs to go beyond the mindset of subsidy-driven projects,” he added.
• Related Link.
• Related Link.

ICYMI.

TSMC Revenue Surges 45%.

• It signals that AI hardware demand remains resilient despite market volatility.
• July revenue hit $14.5 billion. Bloomberg analyzed, “A sign that demand is still holding up.”
• Samsung+NAVER are similar, but the issue isn’t performance—it’s concerns over data center oversupply and the potential for AI investment payback.
• Related Link.

Samsung+Nexon Shareholder Return Cards Emerge.

• Projections suggest Samsung Electronics’ shareholder returns could range from a minimum of 100 trillion won to a maximum of 200 trillion won.
• SK Hynix will also announce additional shareholder return plans in the third quarter.
• All three major U.S. stock indices fell yesterday. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq dropped -0.06%, -0.11%, and -0.32%, respectively.

Worth Reading.

Could the Entire Country Become a Miryang?

• Concerns arise that the 2012 Miryang transmission tower conflict could repeat.
• The issue lies in securing electricity for the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex. It requires 35 345kV transmission lines and 24 substations.
• Ha Seung-soo (Director, Nongbon) pointed out, “A president who speaks of local production for local consumption is overseeing a surreal situation where ultra-high-voltage transmission lines are being built on an unprecedented scale.”
• “People live outside the capital region, and people live in rural areas,” Ha Seung-soo added. “If ‘all people’ in the president’s rhetoric doesn’t only mean capital region residents, the government must respond to the voices of local communities.”
• Related Link.

The Crown Is Not the Point.

• Google is criticized for lagging in the AI race, but it’s trying to change the game. First, does it work? Second, what’s the cost?
• Top-tier AI models aren’t essential—they’re expensive and require computing power Google lacks.
• Yet Google already owns the world’s most widely used operating system, browser, email, and mapping services.
• Lead Albergotti (Semaphore Editor) analyzed, “Google’s strategy is to scrape user data across all domains and penetrate deeply into daily life.”
• Related Link.

Speed Has Changed.

• Jim Vanderhei (Axios founder) proposed the concept of [post-processable velocity].
• “If the speed of information outpaced human understanding over the past 20 years, now the speed of capability outpaces strategic thinking.” The argument is that if prediction is inherently impossible and strategy has limits, it’s crucial to follow—even if late.
• Three questions are needed.
• First, what remains unchanging and certain?
• Second, what is the most critical focus right now?
• Third, what can be done with minimal personnel and minimal time?
• The advice is to maintain direction while keeping specific paths flexible.
• Related Link.

Do Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol Differ in Diplomacy?

• Though dubbed a diplomatic genius, Lee Jae-myung’s stance on NATO remains unclear. As South Korea and NATO grow closer, Russia is pushing back. The Korea-U.S.-Japan vs. North Korea-China-Russia divide is hardening.
• The Yoon Suk-yeol administration faced a different scenario. Then, it was a U.S.-led (Joe Biden, then U.S. president) ideological clash between liberalism and authoritarianism. Now, South Korea and Europe share concerns about a potential Trump-era resurgence.
• Kim Jung-sub (Sejong Institute Senior Research Fellow) analyzed, “Current South Korea-NATO cooperation is not about value alliances or bloc politics, but mid-sized power solidarity and strategic complementarity to address uncertainty.”
• There are three perspectives on NATO cooperation.
• First, the separation theory: viewing Europe and the Indo-Pacific as distinct.
• Second, the integration theory: binding the regions to strengthen the free world’s political and military cohesion.
• Third, the cooperation theory: advancing regionally while selectively strengthening supply chains and advanced tech collaboration.
• Kim Jung-sub also sees a need to improve relations with Russia. “Efforts to adjust and manage conflicting national interests are necessary,” he argues.
• Related Link.

Reading Muscles Are Atrophying.

• Kim Jae-in (Kyung Hee University professor) advised, “Reading muscles grow stronger with every read and weaken if neglected.”
• “Reading is the foundation for democracy to function properly, and today’s global political dysfunction is one consequence of declining literacy. At minimum, to maintain the status quo, reading must continue.”
• Related Link.

Prosecutors Reap What They Sowed.

• One side calls the deprivation of supplementary investigative authority “the people’s command,” while the other warns “the people will suffer.”
• Kim Jeong-woo (Head of Hankook Ilbo’s Issue 365) pointed out, “Our society is still trapped in the ‘certainty trap’ of prosecutorial omnipotence.”
• Since the Jang Yun-gi case, the argument that “if not the prosecution, who will control the police?” has gained traction—but this does not justify dismantling the principle of separating investigation and prosecution.
• Kim Jeong-woo noted, “A ‘prosecutor without investigative power’ is the self-inflicted consequence of a prosecution that catered to the regime’s tastes and empowered itself.”
• The focus should be on preventing police negligence and case concealment—but reviving the prosecution’s direct investigations is not the answer.
• Related Link.

Feedback.

Slow News Reading Group Announcement.

• We meet daily via Zoom from 8:00 to 9:00 AM.
• The session is led by Slow News reader Lim Ye-seul.
• Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81711959886?pwd=eXLBhEaJ0aTnIhbUqhbvsO3bhXKMoT.1
• Related Link.