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.

Tax Reform Proposal Under Review.

• The Democratic Party is demanding changes, and the Blue House appears to be accepting them.
• A party-government consultation was held yesterday at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Samcheong-dong. Park Seong-jun (Democratic Party Spokesperson) said, “We strongly requested that no distinction be made between resident and non-resident status for single-homeowners.”
• Kim Min-seok (Democratic Party Leader) said, “Deliberation is needed on the tax reform proposal, which adjusts the basic deduction for non-resident single-homeowners from 1.2 billion won to 900 million won and increases the cap to 200%.”
• Han Seong-sook (Prime Minister) and other government officials made no notable comments. A ruling party official met by Chosun Ilbo said, “The government is in a proposing position, but the actual decision is made by the National Assembly and the ruling party.”
• A Democratic Party lawmaker said, “Housing prices are rising, so taxes increase even if people do nothing—adding artificial tax hikes would make public backlash unmanageable.”
• Lee Kang-hoon (Policy Committee Chair of Participatory Democracy) said, “The principle is that both resident and non-resident statuses should be taxed,” adding, “It’s hard to understand why the Democratic Party is taking the lead for a tiny minority of high-value homes.”
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Crafting a 820 Trillion Won Super Budget.

• Increasing this year’s 728 trillion won by 92 trillion won.
• Expenditures are rising, yet the national debt ratio is projected to fall from 51.6% this year to the 48% range next year—GDP is likely to surpass 3,000 trillion won.
• Defense budget raised from 65.8 to 71.8 trillion won.
• Youth employment incentives doubled. Child allowances also doubled.

Canadians vs. Trump: Who Wins?

• Mark Carney (Canadian Prime Minister) did what no country has managed before. With just one hour left before tariffs were to take effect, he ordered negotiators to withdraw and declared, “The war has begun.”
• Some analysts suggest Trump’s mockery has ignited Canadian patriotism. Over half of Canadians responded, “We should not concede anything to the U.S.”
• A deal was nearly reached: steel and aluminum tariffs would drop from 50% to 25%, and auto tariffs from 25% to 15%. But the U.S. demanded additional unfair terms.
• Carney criticized, “They asked for too much and offered too little.”
• Trump posted on Truth Social, “Canada wants the benefits of being a U.S. state without becoming one. Canada has imposed massive tariffs on American farmers for years—no longer acceptable.”
• With talks collapsed, the U.S. and Canada will impose 50% tariffs on each other.
• Both nations will suffer, but Trump—facing midterms—is seen as the bigger loser. Mike Pence (former U.S. Vice President) noted, “With the economy recovering, the last thing we need is a trade war with Canada.”
• Related Link.
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What Matters Now.

Future Response Fund: 100 Trillion Won.

• Tax windfalls from the semiconductor boom will be set aside separately.
• Park Hong-geun (Minister of Planning and Budget) said, “We will create a fiscal reserve to store surpluses for use in times of shortage.”
• The plan is to use it as a “strategic investment platform and a fiscal stabilization tool to mitigate revenue volatility.”
• Instead of channeling increased tax revenue into short-term stimulus, the idea is to funnel it into growth engines.
• No specific amount was mentioned.
• Chosun Ilbo estimates it will exceed “120 trillion won,” while Donga Ilbo says it will surpass “150 trillion won.” Next year’s additional tax revenue is expected to be 98 trillion won plus alpha, with another 20 trillion won or more available from grant system reforms.
• The growth engine account will fund three mega-projects centered on semiconductors and AI. The youth account will support jobs, housing, marriage, and childbirth.
• Related Link.
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Pocket Money Outside Parliament.

• Chosun Ilbo assessed the Future Response Fund as becoming a “mini-budget within the budget bill.”
• Yang Joon-seok (Catholic University Professor) pointed out, “Securing funds usable without parliamentary approval could be interpreted as violating the constitutional principle that budgets must be approved by the National Assembly.”
• Hwang Sung-hyun (Incheon University Professor) said, “Funding stability could be compromised depending on whether the semiconductor boom persists,” adding, “It would be preferable to use temporary tax windfalls to partially repay national debt and invest the rest where needed.”
• Park Hong-geun (Minister of Planning and Budget) countered, “If all of this large-scale funding is allocated solely to fiscal soundness, discrepancies between revenue and expenditure could still arise next year or the year after, forcing another bond issuance.”
• Related Link.
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Police Bury Another Missing Person Case.

• JoongAng Ilbo reported it as the top front-page story. A particularly sensitive issue since prosecutors lost their supplementary investigative authority.
• After telling the family, “We’ve contacted the missing person and they’re safe, but they don’t want to disclose their location,” the case was closed—only for the body to be found later.
• Two self-closed cases have been confirmed at Jeju West Police Station.
• In an editorial, JoongAng Ilbo questioned, “Can the public truly trust the police with full investigative authority?” highlighting growing public anxiety.
• Cho Yong-sul (People Power Party spokesperson) noted, “Even now, police are already covering up internal mistakes through ‘self-investigations’ and unilaterally concluding cases.”
• Kwak Dae-kyung (Dongguk University professor) explained, “Even if a superior reviews the case, if the investigator handles everything alone and submits a report, it’s difficult for a team leader or section chief to reach a different conclusion.”
• According to Chosun Ilbo, some within the police suggest that false statements may have been made to conceal botched initial investigations that missed the ‘golden time.’
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Deep Dive.

How to Build 100,000 Public Rental Homes in Yongsan.

• Assume 100,000 permanent rental units are built on the 1 million pyeong Yongsan Park site. This is the scenario proposed by Lee Hyo-seung (CEO of NeoOne).
• Reserve one-third of the site as parkland, then build high-rises with a floor-area ratio of 500% on the remaining land. Align with height restrictions near Namsan and build 70-story landmarks along the Han River.
• Separate structural and utility systems and upgrade them every 30 years—this could create buildings that last 100 years. They must be built to a premium standard to transcend the stigma of rental housing.
• Rents are tied to life stages: 12 pyeong for youth at 500,000 won/month, 25 pyeong for newlyweds at 1.3 million won, 33 pyeong after having one child at 1.5 million won, 1 million won for two children, and 500,000 won for three or more.
• Han River-facing units are allocated via auction—monthly rents could reach tens of millions of won.
• The key principle: 100% rental, no sales. No capital gains. Residents can live there for life or move to larger units if needed.
• Initial investment: 40 trillion won. Monthly rent (including commercial spaces): 300 billion won. Breakeven in 15 years, with annual profits of 3 trillion won thereafter. The 200 trillion won premium remains public asset.
• Singapore already has a successful model.
• Lee Hyo-seung emphasized, “If tens of thousands line up for homes with zero capital gains, that queue itself becomes proof that state-built housing has beaten the market.”
• Related Link.

Yongsan’s 1 Million Households: A Point-by-Point Rebuttal.

• Whether 100,000 or 1 million households, how nice would it be if homes could be churned out like bread?
• Choi Kyung-ho (Director of Sucheojakju) explained, “Apartments are closer to dining tables than bread.” “You can’t just eliminate the kitchen to fit more tables. Housing won’t become cheaper—it’ll become unlivable.”
• To fit 1 million units, buildings over 330 meters tall would need to be spaced less than 20 meters apart. Choi dismissed this as “bordering on madness.”
• According to Choi’s calculations, even 100,000 units are impossible. Fitting 100,000 units on 20% of Yongsan Park’s land would require a floor-area ratio exceeding 1,000%.
• Many people harbor fantasies about hyper-dense cities, but Seoul is already one. This fact shouldn’t be overlooked.
• Choi systematically rebuts the “1 million households” claim because he believes it obscures the real issues and diverts attention from core problems.
• This isn’t a simple arithmetic problem. Water, electricity, waste, and transportation systems would require entirely new urban planning. It’s not solved by simply eliminating parking lots.
• Beyond roughly 70 stories, increasing height only expands core infrastructure space, limiting how many units can actually be added.
• Choi argues that realistically, 10,000 households on 20% of Yongsan Park is the maximum—and that’s no small number. Public rental housing is necessary, but inflating numbers undermines policy effectiveness.
• Choi emphasized, “‘Hyper-high-rises’ are not a mass solution to housing problems—physically, economically, or psychologically—before even considering views or mental well-being.”
• Related Link.

Yongsan N-Ten Thousand Household Simulation.

• Yongsan Park’s total site area is 3.03 million square meters. If represented as a square, each side would measure approximately 1.7 kilometers. (Yeouido is 2.9 million square meters.)
• The returned land accounts for about 31%. How to fit 100,000 households here?
• Assuming a floor-area ratio of 800%, with a building coverage ratio of 20% and a net occupancy ratio of 75%, 100,000 units of 22-pyeong apartments could theoretically be accommodated.
• This would require 256 apartment buildings, each 54 stories tall with 10 households per floor. In this scenario, the distance between buildings would be only 34 meters.
• To secure more space between buildings, they would need to be built taller—but exceeding 70 stories increases core area requirements, limiting further household density.
• (Click the image below to access the simulation.)
• Related Link.

Green NIMBYism.

• Calls to preserve Yongsan Park include environmental groups’ demands to protect green space—and local residents’ fears of falling property values.
• New York’s Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan was initially planned as affordable rental housing for low-income seniors but was scrapped.
• Lee So-young (Democratic Party lawmaker) criticized, “The old contradiction: build parks in central Seoul, apartments in Gyeonggi, and force people into hours-long commutes.”
• Park Hyun (Hankyoreh editorial writer) noted, “If planning for 100 years ahead, answering questions unimaginable 20 years ago is as vital as honoring past agreements.”
• Yongsan Park’s status as state-owned land—eliminating compensation costs—is a major advantage.
• Byun Chang-heum (Sejong University professor) argued, “Most of the base hasn’t been returned yet, so we’ve never properly built the park,” adding, “Plans must be comprehensively redesigned after full 100% return.”
• Returned land ratio: 31%.
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Scaling Back Drills? Building a Peace Regime.

• The South Korea-U.S. joint drills ended after five days.
• Cho Jung-sik (National Assembly Speaker) met with Michele Steel (U.S. Ambassador) and said, “We deeply empathize with and highly appreciate President Trump’s will and determination to establish a stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”
• Fred Fleitz (AFPI Deputy Director) assessed it as “a small price to pay to bring Kim Jong-un (North Korean State Affairs Commissioner) to the negotiating table.”
• Jeong Yong-su (JoongAng Ilbo Director of Unification Culture Research) analyzed, “Kim Jong-un, aware of Trump’s impatience—tied down by the Iran issue and needing to shake up the political landscape ahead of elections—is likely to maximize his leverage by keeping Trump waiting.” He added, “The more this happens, the more Trump could be pressured, potentially choosing to officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear state or bypass South Korea to approach North Korea directly.”
• Oh Kyung-seop (Unification Research Institute Senior Researcher) stated, “If negotiations proceed by tolerating or condoning North Korea’s nuclear program, the very goal of denuclearization could collapse. Therefore, diplomatic persuasion must emphasize that illegal nuclear development cannot be accepted.”
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Another Take.

Gallup Poll Bounce for Yoon.

• Yoon Suk-yeol (President) approval rating rose from 44% to 45%. Has it hit bottom? Positive and negative ratings are tied at 45%.
• The Democratic Party and People Power Party remain unchanged at 41% and 25%, respectively.
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Grumbles from Pro-Cheong Leaders.

• Three pro-Cheong Supreme Council members, including Choi Min-hee (Democratic Party Supreme Council Member), refused to vote and walked out of the meeting.
• The agenda was to approve nominations for two appointed Supreme Council members—but no prior consultation occurred. The initial promise to elect youth representatives via primary was also ignored.
• Kim Min-seok (Democratic Party Leader) nominated Jeon Yong-gi (Democratic Party lawmaker) and Kwon Mi-kyung (Chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ Public Solidarity Union Federation) as Supreme Council members, and the resolution passed in their absence.

42% of Corporate-Owned Homes Subject to Property Tax Are Executive Mansions.

• Out of 2,639 properties, 1,097 were company-provided mansions for owners and their families.
• Many cases maintain an open secret by offering Han River-view apartments as residences for owners or their children.
• Lim Kwang-hyun (National Tax Service Commissioner) stated, “While corporate-supercar sales are declining, the issue of executive mansions is identical to the supercar problem.”
• The National Tax Service plans to investigate broader corporate fund embezzlement, including overseas housing and education expenses for owners’ children studying abroad.
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Cell America, Bessent’s Disastrous Failure.

• U.S. Treasury yields rose again after just two days. Investors sold dollars and switched to gold and cryptocurrencies—a debasement trade. In a week, the dollar fell 0.7% while Bitcoin surged 22%.
• Scott Bessent (U.S. Treasury Secretary)’s buyback failed. It didn’t suppress bond yields, and government debt keeps growing. Big Tech is flooding the market with corporate bonds, likely pushing rates higher. The Wall Street Journal noted, “Trust in the central bank, Congress, and the Treasury is collapsing.”
• This may not be the end but the beginning.
• Brent Donnelly (SpectraMarkets CEO) said, “It gives the impression of a backstop, but there’s no real resolve.”
• Though Scott Bessent claimed, “I know how to move markets,” many criticize that a more fundamental strategy was needed.
• Priya Misra (JPMorgan portfolio manager) stressed, “Kevin Wash (Fed Chair) must say he’ll hike rates without hesitation if conditions change.” “If he keeps repeating ‘task force,’ the market will lose patience,” she warned.
• Related Link.

Is the U.S. Fiscal Crisis Contained?

• U.S. Treasury yields and gold prices are simultaneously rising—a persistent anomaly.
• Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates founder) warned, “The U.S. debt crisis could occur within three years, with a margin of error of two years.” This year, U.S. government revenue and spending stand at $5.5 trillion and $7.5 trillion, respectively. The $2 trillion deficit includes $1 trillion in annual interest costs alone.
• Dalio advised, “Now is the time to diversify investments into sound foreign economies and varied assets beyond the U.S.,” recommending, “Allocate 10–15% of assets to gold and a portion to Bitcoin.”
• Related Link.

Natalie Harp: The ‘Human Printer’ and Her Dangerous Devotion.

• Natalie Harp (White House Social Media Advisor) calls herself a human printer. She carries a portable printer to hand out materials because Trump always reads on paper.
• The New York Times described Natalie Harp as “the president’s childish comfort object (binky).”
• Trump told aides, “Only Natalie loves me as much as my wife and children.”
• Critics call it “door-knob power”—to reach Trump, one must go through Harp.
• A love letter Harp sent to Trump was leaked, reading, “You are the only one who matters to me.”
• She shares Trump’s Truth Social account, leading to speculation that some posts were written by her.
• She was among the core aides who accompanied Trump when he switched to Air Force One in Turkey.
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Why Frontier Models Aren’t Selling Well.

• Tokens deplete too quickly.
• Anthropic’s flagship model, Claude 5, accounts for only 11% of enterprise spending—a sign that the habit of upgrading with every new top-tier model is fading.
• Claude 5 isn’t necessary for every task. The slightly lower-tier Claude Opus 5 performs adequately.
• ChatGPT 5.6, which consumes fewer tokens comparatively, shows negligible performance differences. Alternatives like Chinese OpenWeave models have also proliferated.
• Despite high costs, continued use is needed to sustain growth. While Anthropic achieved profitability, the margin remains precarious.

The Second China Shock.

• China once imported 10 million cars but now buys fewer than 500,000.
• Exports? They’ve grown from 1 million to 10 million in five years.
• Ford, GM, Volkswagen, and others had to build factories in China to sell cars there (tariffs were 25%). Naturally, parts suppliers followed, and technology transferred.
• China is unlike any other country. Taxes are low, social safety nets are weak—hence high savings rates. The state-led competitive system fully supports high-tech industries.
• Brad Setser (Council on Foreign Relations researcher) noted, “Chinese battery production capacity far exceeds global demand, leaving no room for other players.”
• The first China Shock in 2002 was about cheap Chinese manufactured goods. It was said that when shopping at Walmart, the cost of goods was cheaper than the gas to get there. U.S. manufacturing collapsed as a result.
• The second China Shock—now underway—is led by high-tech industries: solar, AI, EVs, and batteries.
• Trump’s tariff war didn’t work on China. Retaliation met retaliation, and Trump eventually backed down. If the U.S. imposes 150% tariffs on Chinese goods, Americans won’t be able to decorate Christmas trees. Above all, without rare earths, the U.S. economy would grind to a halt.
• China’s annual car production capacity? 55 million—nearly two-thirds of global demand.
• China supplies 10% of the European car market, a share that could rise to 70%. Beijing wants the world to depend on its supply chains. With domestic demand already faltering, it must look abroad.
• Is this precarious global imbalance sustainable?
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The Fix.

Data Centers and the Nuclear Dilemma.

• Ireland legally bans nuclear power, but the mood is shifting.
• Data centers consume a quarter of Ireland’s electricity—and this share is projected to rise to 30% by 2032. Ireland imports four-fifths of its energy needs.
• The country wants to build more data centers but cannot accommodate them. The fact that Finland, with its high nuclear power share, has much cheaper industrial electricity rates adds to the dilemma.
• Micheál Martin (Taoiseach of Ireland) said, “We are open to nuclear power.”
• Hannah Daly (University College Cork professor) argued, “Nuclear cannot solve anything—whether grid stability or carbon limits—in the next 15–20 years” and warned, “It risks delaying renewable energy adoption.”
• An April poll showed 43% support and 28% opposition to lifting the nuclear ban.
• Related Link.

Suicide Is Contagious, and a Friend’s Death Is a Red Flag.

• Students exposed to a friend’s suicide saw a 47% increase in self-harm diagnoses.
• Students with prior mental health treatment saw a 42% rise in self-harm diagnoses—but those without prior treatment saw a 110% increase. Violent crime arrest rates also rose by 27%.
• One in four American adolescents experiences a peer’s suicide before age 17.
• Janet Currie (Yale professor) noted, “Beyond typical signals like depression and suicidal impulses, outwardly visible behaviors such as substance use or aggression must also be recognized as grief responses triggered by a friend’s suicide.”
• Related Link.

Are We Expected to Live in Goshiwons Forever?

• The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport withdrew a revised building code proposal—after just ten days—that would have allowed bathtubs in goshiwons.
• The backlash intensified when paired with Rep. Hwang Hee’s (Democratic Party) “bus house” proposal.
• Homeless Action issued a statement: “Many already cannot use shower stalls due to poor ventilation, even when available.” They demanded, “Minimum housing standards must be established and enforced for substandard housing like goshiwons.”
• Related Link.

Last Year’s Foreign Patient Count: 2.01 Million.

• Chinese and Japanese patients numbered 620,000 and 600,000 respectively—a 72% increase from 1.17 million in 2024.
• Dermatology treatments led with 1.31 million patients, followed by plastic surgery (230,000) and internal medicine (190,000).
• The economic impact reached 23 trillion won.

ICYMI.

“The Problem Is the Work Never Ends.”.

• “It feels like a drug. I’ve never tried drugs, but I imagine it’s like this.”
• Peter Faderis (ProxSon founder) says working with AI agents has made his workflow 30 times faster—but the workload has only increased.
• AI agents constantly ask for direction and request approval. Since they halt until receiving a response, human reaction speed ultimately dictates their efficiency.
• “Even during brief idle moments, it feels like we’re missing opportunities to accomplish a week’s worth of work,” he explains.
• Aditya Sharma (Kill founder) adds, “If a 24/7 agent stops for 8 hours, the loss is enormous.” That’s why he often works through the night with agents and sleeps at 6 a.m.
• Humans are now losing sleep to keep up with sleepless AI agents.
• Ajay Kalia (Alt founder) notes, “New models let us pursue far grander ambitions, but the real issue is the work never ends.”
• Abby Grills (Liberta founder) has stopped hiring human staff—it’s faster to delegate to AI agents. Ultimately, though, founders’ workloads keep growing.
• Ajay Kalia uses his Apple Watch to instruct agents, receiving requests every 10 minutes. Even while jogging, he must check the watch and approve tasks.
• “I know this lifestyle isn’t sustainable, but can I really stop?”
• Related Link.

Beyond Large Language Models: The Rise of Large Action Models.

• After LLMs come LAMs (large action models)—we are entering the era of world models.
• LLMs learned from text, but LAMs train on video games and simulations.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, action models have now reached roughly the level of GPT-2.
• Animal behavior has evolved over 500 million years. Text? Less than 100,000.
• Kent Rollins (Chief Product Officer at General Intuition) noted, “Text is just an incomplete representation of the real world,” adding, “If you describe the world through text, you miss essential aspects.” The implication: you can’t control robots with text models.
• LLMs can afford to be somewhat wrong, but LAMs cannot—they risk collisions or fatal accidents in the real world. Hybrid models are under development, using LLMs by default and calling world models only when necessary.
• Related Link.

US AI Costs 12x More.

• Asked to build the same website, the US model cost $48.99 while the Chinese model cost $4.08.
• Playground V5 totaled $48.99, while Qwen 3.7 Max was $4.08—a 12x gap—and DeepSeek V4 was even cheaper. Actual rates also varied: per 1 million tokens, Playground V5 costs $50, while DeepSeek V4 is $3.96 ($1.98 off-peak), and Kimi K3 is $15.
• Kim Yu-seok (CEO of Choi Jong-hyeon Academy) said, “It’s time to expand the concept of sovereign AI from mere model ownership to operational capability.” He advised that rather than 100% domestic technology, the priority should be the control to immediately switch between domestic and foreign models if specific services fail.
• Related Link.

Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory: 30.86 Million Monthly Views.

• MBC’s Kim Jong-bae’s Focused Viewpoint has 2.09 million views. CBS’s Park Seong-tae’s News Show has slightly more at 3.16 million views. These figures tally full YouTube video views since February 2023.
• Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory reached 51.98 million views in December 2024, immediately after Yoon Suk-yeol’s emergency decree. It has since dropped to 27.06 million monthly views amid impeachment and government turnover.
• It still garners nearly five times the combined monthly views of KBS, MBC, SBS, and CBS morning current affairs programs.

Samsung Electronics’ 110 Trillion Won Shareholder Return.

• It’s the largest in Korean corporate history, but falls short of market expectations. Some had predicted it would exceed 200 trillion won.
• 4.9 trillion won was already paid as dividends in Q1, with 30 trillion won in cash dividends scheduled for Q3. The remainder will be decided at the January 2025 board meeting.
• A 15 trillion won share buyback for employee compensation is also included.
• Related Link.

Raid on Kim Ok-sook’s Properties.

• Prosecutors raided Kim Ok-sook (former first lady, wife of Roh Tae-woo)’s Seoul residence and the Roh Tae-woo Center.
• The investigation centers on allegations of slush fund concealment and tax evasion, based on a memo by Kim Ok-sook that surfaced during the divorce trial between Choi Tae-won (SK Group chairman) and Roh So-young (director of Art Center Nabi).
• The memo, dated around 1998, details slush funds totaling 90.4 billion won, including 30 billion won from Seonkyong.
• Roh So-young claimed, “The 30 billion won my parents gave to Seonkyong became the seed money for SK Group’s growth.” Choi Tae-won countered, “It was money promised to Roh Tae-woo for living expenses after leaving office—but we never actually received it.”
• Related Link.

Worth Reading.

Data Center Backlash: What About Korea?

• “It sounds like airplane engines running and freight trains passing on tracks, day and night,” they say.
• Korea? It’s being framed as core infrastructure for the AI era. Kim Ki-hwan (JoongAng Ilbo reporter) noted, “Even the U.S., with a land area 100 times that of Korea, faces NIMBY conflicts everywhere,” adding, “If data centers fail to secure local acceptance, K-NIMBY will only intensify.”
• Related Link.

Cho Hee-dae’s Self-Inflicted New Normal.

• Cho Hee-dae (Chief Justice) recommended a Supreme Court justice candidate without prior consultation, and Lee Jae-myung (President) is likely to reject the nomination. If re-recommended and still unsatisfactory, it can be rejected again. In the worst-case scenario, nominations and rejections could loop infinitely.
• Seong Han-yong (Senior Reporter, Hankyoreh) remarked, “There’s no alternative,” calling it “Cho Hee-dae’s self-inflicted new normal.” Seong criticized Kim Min-seok (Democratic Party Leader) for demanding Cho’s resignation as “a political offensive” and “unjustified.”
• “If the Chief Justice violated the Constitution or laws, impeachment by the National Assembly is the proper course. The reluctance to pursue impeachment likely stems from the Constitutional Court’s high probability of dismissal. Cho’s mid-term resignation would also impose excessive political burdens on the President and the Democratic Party. To the public, it would appear as if the ruling bloc seeks to control all branches—legislative, executive, and judicial. Cho is set to retire in June next year due to age limits. Appointing a new Chief Justice through proper procedures then would be the natural order.”
• Related Link.

Congress Over Rejection.

• The Chief Justice has the right to nominate Supreme Court justices, Congress has the right to approve, and the President has the right to appoint.
• With the precedent of prior coordination broken, there is no option but to follow the law.
• Lee Hyeon-sang (JoongAng Ilbo columnist) pointed out, “The moment the Blue House rejects the nomination, suspicions will only deepen that it seeks to tame the judiciary to reduce the President’s judicial risks.”
• “Even to minimize political burden, it is safer to seek Congress’s judgment as a constitutional procedure,” the commentary added.
• Related Link.

The Question Is Real.

• “Socialism is the wrong answer, but the question is real.”
• Gerard Baker (Wall Street Journal columnist) on the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) surge within the U.S. Democratic Party.
• “Inequality is a feature of capitalism and a sign of its health,” yet “no one can deny that as inequality grows, social cohesion weakens”—a self-reflection.
• Even accounting for the Wall Street Journal’s anti-socialist stance, it acknowledges the threat.
• Gerard Baker pointed out, “Most causes of America’s economic dysfunction stem from capitalism being corrupted into a system operated by and for big corporations.”
• Kim Sung-mo (Chosun Ilbo New York correspondent) emphasized, “Trust in capitalism collapses not as an ideological issue but in daily life,” adding, “A reason to heed New York’s reality as a cautionary tale.”
• Chosun Ilbo’s sense of crisis differs from the Wall Street Journal’s, yet it forces reflection on what truly matters.
• Related Link.
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