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.

A 10-Year Vacant Special Inspector General Finally Nominated.

• Lee Jae-myung (President) nominated Choi Gil-soo (Apro Law Firm lawyer). A confirmation hearing is required.
• The Special Inspector General investigates misconduct by the president’s spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and senior secretaries.
• The position has been vacant for a decade since Lee Seok-su (then-Special Inspector General) resigned after investigating corruption allegations against Woo Byung-woo (then-Chief of Staff to the President) during the Park Geun-hye administration.
• The Democratic Party, People Power Party, and Korean Bar Association each recommended one candidate—Choi was the Democratic Party’s nominee.
• A ruling party official interviewed by Chosun Ilbo remarked, “It’s like holding a ticking time bomb.” Others question, “Would past presidents have avoided appointing a Special Inspector General for no reason?”
• In an editorial, The Hankyoreh emphasized, “The ultimate consequence of blocking the Special Inspector General’s oversight was Park Geun-hye’s impeachment,” urging, “Substantive authority and independence must be guaranteed to ensure impartial investigations around the president.”
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Reversing the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Basic Deduction to 1.2 Billion KRW.

• They had planned to raise the deduction for primary residences to 1.4 billion KRW and lower it to 900 million KRW for non-primary residences, but now the policy may reverse within a month. The Democratic Party proposed the change, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance appears to have accepted it.
• According to The Hankyoreh, the Blue House maintains that differential treatment between primary and non-primary residences cannot be eliminated.
• A government official interviewed by Chosun Ilbo stated, “The focus is on reducing disadvantages for non-residents rather than completely abolishing the residence distinction.”
• In an editorial, JoongAng Ilbo argued, “It is correct to discard the tax reform framework centered on punitive taxation for single non-resident homeowners and start anew.”
• Lee Kang-hoon (Policy Committee Chair, Participatory Democracy Network) said, “The president’s significant emphasis on the ‘smart single-property’ issue seems to be collapsing, and it appears as if the government is catering to a small group of wealthy individuals.”
• Nam Ki-up (Director, Land Freedom Research Institute) remarked, “Properties in Gangnam are hesitating to hit the market,” adding, “The Democratic Party is heading down a dangerous and misguided path.”
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What Matters Now.

A Self-Terminated Police Case Claims Another Life.

• Jang Mi-ran went missing on May 12. Her friend reported her missing on May 15, but the police arbitrarily closed the case. A new missing person report was filed on July 19, and after reopening the investigation, her body was found on August 24. The police are leaning toward suicide.
• A similar case involved a man in his 60s. He was reported missing on July 2, but the police closed the case, claiming he was safe. A new report was filed on August 21, and his body was recovered on August 23.
• Yoo Jae-sung (Acting Police Commissioner) acknowledged “problems with the missing person system” but insisted, “It’s a separate issue from investigative authority.”
• The statistics themselves are also suspect: among adults reported missing, deaths dropped from 1,773 in 2018 to 931 last year—the lowest since records began in 2016.
• Park Dong-gyun (Professor at Daegu Hanu University) said, “Objective verification and mandatory supervisor approval should be required to prevent cases from being closed based on mere time lapses or subjective judgment.” He emphasized, “The principle that ‘unconfirmed safety is not safety’ must be supported by both law and institutions to ensure effective protection of missing persons.”
• Baek Sang-hoon (Criminal Psychological Analyst) noted, “Missing person investigations are not a field where officers receive recognition for results, so those with limited experience often rotate into and out of these assignments.”
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Self-Terminated Police Cases: Suspects Released for Now.

• The court ruled the urgent arrest criteria were not met. Prosecutors requested a warrant on charges including obstruction of official duties; a substantive review is held today.
• There are at least 10 more suspected self-terminated cases.
• Why did Officer Ahn (Jungseo Police Station, Jeju) do it? Some speculate it was to reduce workload, but many find the explanation unconvincing.

Jeong Seong-ho’s Resignation Accepted.

• Jeong Seong-ho (Minister of Justice) is stepping down. With the launch of the Special Prosecutors’ Office and the Corruption Investigation Office scheduled for October, stabilizing the Ministry of Justice organization is critical.
• Potential successors include Park Gyun-taek (Democratic Party lawmaker) and Lee Geon-tae (Democratic Party lawmaker).
• Chosun Ilbo noted, “The burden of canceling Lee Jae-myung’s indictment is behind the resignation.” A ruling party official remarked, “Whoever becomes minister, canceling the indictment in President Lee’s case will be the immediate priority.”
• Related Link.

A Special Prosecutor’s 180 Days: A Fizzle After a Flashy Start.

• Kim Keon-hee’s alleged preferential treatment in relocating to the official residence and the cover-up of the Deutsche Motors investigation were partial successes, but many cases—including that of Noh Sang-won (former Army Intelligence Command chief)—were transferred to the National Investigation Headquarters.
• The Hankyoreh assessed, “The results fell far short.” The prosecution also failed to indict Won Hee-ryong (former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) over the Yangpyeong Expressway allegations.
• Kwon Chang-young (special prosecutor) stated, “As long as the forces of rebellion retain their capacity and will, the war has only just begun.”
• Controversy also surrounds the non-custodial indictments of Hong Jang-won (former deputy director of the National Intelligence Service) and Cho Seong-hyeon (former commander of the ROK Army Capital Defense Command Security Unit).
• Kim Jeong-min (special prosecutor) said, “Investigations revealed that the claim ‘Do not cross Seogang Bridge’ was exaggerated; instead, there was a clear order to ‘enter the National Assembly and remove personnel.’” Kwon Chang-young noted, “Cooperation with investigations after committing a crime is only a mitigating factor in sentencing.”
• In an editorial, The Korea Daily remarked, “This should serve as a moment to reflect on the pitfalls of ‘special prosecutor omnipotence’—the tendency to resolve everything through special investigations.”
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Deep Dive.

Samsung Electronics Pledges 110 Trillion Won, Yet Shares Plunge 8.7%.

• Fell to 257,000 won. Foreign and institutional investors net-sold 1.8 trillion won and 1.6 trillion won, respectively, while individuals net-bought 2.9 trillion won.
• Minority shareholders (under 1%) numbered 7.97 million as of June, nearly doubling from 4.19 million six months prior.
• Calls emerge for share buybacks instead of cash dividends.
• While SK Hynix—with virtually no stake held by Chey Tae-won (SK Chairman)—opted for buybacks, Samsung Electronics, where Lee Jae-yong (Samsung Electronics Chairman) and affiliates hold significant shares amid governance complexities, may prefer dividends, analysts suggest.
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Disabled Subway Protests Halted.

• It has been 4 years and 8 months. The National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon) has declared a major compromise with the Democratic Party.
• The Democratic Party in the Seoul Metropolitan Council agreed to revise mobility rights ordinances to operate all Seoul buses as low-floor buses and restore public jobs for severely disabled individuals.
• Seoul’s low-floor bus adoption rate stood at 79.4% as of late last year.
• The Korea Daily emphasized in an editorial, “The surest way to stop Jeonjangyeon’s protests is to create a society where disabled people can move freely and work.”
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Pill for Medication Abortion: Only the MFDS’s Decision Remains.

• It has been a month since Lee Jae-myong (President) instructed a review of whether the drug can be introduced even before legal revision.
• It has been seven years since the Constitutional Court ruled the criminalization of abortion unconstitutional.
• The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) still insists that legal revision must come first. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is reviewing a plan to include it in national health insurance coverage.

Another Take.

Lee Jae-myong’s Realmeter Approval Rating Drops to 40.2%.

• It briefly fell below 40% in daily polls.
• The Democratic Party and People Power Party narrowed to 41.9% and 37.9%, respectively. (Margin of error ±2.2 percentage points at 95% confidence level, response rate 3.2%.)
• Park Dong-won (Polycom CEO) said, “Just one year into the presidency, touching taxes has opened a negative current of public sentiment that could alienate even the core 4050 demographic.”
• The JoongAng Ilbo pointed out, “Responses like the ‘scrapped bus’ and ‘bathtub goshiwon’ measures fanned the flames of shifting public sentiment.”
• Kim Bong-shin (Metavoice CEO) analyzed, “With the party convention over, there’s no new material to sustain supporters’ urgency, leading to less active responses in polls.”
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“Cho Gi-dae’s Water Will Flow Regardless.”.

• Kim Min-seok (Democratic Party Leader) said this. He pointed out, “The prosecution’s blind eye to self-reform should serve as a cautionary tale.”
• Kim Min-seok claimed, “Neutralizing the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee is Chief Justice Cho Gi-dae’s true objective.”
• The Democratic Party plans to amend the Court Organization Act to prevent the committee’s dissolution until the justice recommendation process is completed.

“Imagine Filling 26 Supreme Court Seats with Loyalists.”.

• Jang Dong-hyeok (People Power Party Leader) said this. Park Seong-hoon (People Power Party Spokesperson) criticized, “This is collective madness openly undermining the constitutional separation of powers.”
• Cho Gi-dae (Chief Justice) said in a speech at a lawyers’ convention, “The value of ‘rule of law,’ which controls arbitrary exercise of state power and protects the freedom and rights of the people, is even more precious.”
• Chosun Ilbo editorialized, “This is not judicial reform but political retaliation.”
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“Economic D-Day Begins.”.

• Janet Yellen (U.S. Treasury Secretary) claimed in a Financial Times op-ed, “This will be the largest single financial offensive mobilized against an adversary.”
• The U.S. plans to isolate Iran. “Any country serving as a financial artery to a declining regime must also bear the burden of its isolation,” it warned, adding, “The moment a nation becomes a sanctuary for terrorism, it becomes a pariah in the international community.”
• Abbas Araghchi (Iranian Foreign Minister) called it “the same old tactic the U.S. always uses,” claiming, “It shows they are desperate.”
• A clash with China is also possible. Last year, China purchased over 80% of Iran’s seaborne crude exports. Mao Ning (Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson) stated, “China will work with Iran to ensure bilateral relations remain stable and develop long-term.” This signals refusal to join U.S. sanctions on Iran.
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Is the 7% Mortgage Rate Era Upon Us?

• Ripple effects from U.S. Treasury yields. The 30-year bond rate hit a 19-year high. The U.S. Treasury’s buyback had no effect. Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and three other hyperscalers plan $750 billion in capital investment, of which $220 billion will be raised through bonds.
• Globally, money is drying up. Japan’s 10-year bond yield is also hitting 30-year highs.
• Yesterday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq fell -0.28%, 0.26%, and -0.76% respectively. Attention is focused on NVIDIA’s earnings announcement on Wednesday.
• The Kyunghyang Shinmun forecasted that the 7% mortgage rate era is near. Household debt has surpassed 2,000 trillion won. As of the 24th, mortgage rates rose to 4.75–6.56% annually.
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AI Drone Kills Humans.

• “It’s an airplane,” people shouted, but the drone did not stop.
• A Russian drone attacked a Ukrainian gas station, killing three civilians.
• It was an autonomous drone without an antenna. An NVIDIA Jetson-Orin module was found in the wreckage.
• This drone likely received only the command to attack a target, not guidelines prohibiting identification or attacks on humans.
• Serhiy Mykhailov (Zaporizhzhia Defense Commander) said, “Machines are now deciding whether to attack.”
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The Fix.

Why It’s Hard to Quit Coupang and Baedal Worker Gig Jobs.

• “If you deliver for ten days, you can earn a certain amount, but when you actually try to get a regular job, there aren’t many places to go.” This is the story of a delivery worker interviewed by the Korea Employment Information Service.
• A young man who incurred debt from failed stock investments quit his job and became a platform worker. He earns up to 5 million won after taxes on a 40-hour basis. “Based on the pay alone, I want to keep doing this,” he said. Another young man said, “There’s nothing else to do.”
• Jeon Yong-seok (Korea Employment Information Service Research Fellow) said, “Even a few delivery jobs can earn more than training allowances, so participants easily drop out of programs even after joining.” The suggestion is that “short, flexible vocational training and group counseling using successful cases of conversion to regular employment are needed—support tailored to the characteristics of platform workers.”

Not Seawater, But Hot Spring.

• Water temperatures off Tongyeong have risen to 28.4°C. Short-necked clam production has dropped to 1/60th of previous levels.
• Rockfish (barred knifejaw) and mullet slow down when temperatures exceed 26°C and die above 28°C. Over 900,000 rockfish have perished in Gyeongnam alone.
• According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science, Korean sea temperatures have risen 1.6°C over 58 years since 1968—more than double the global average of 0.76°C. Phytoplankton has decreased by 58% compared to the late 1990s, while summer toxic species like jellyfish have increased by 60%.
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Singapore Offers Up to $76,000 in Birth Incentives.

• Incentives and subsidies will be provided up to 70,000 Singapore dollars. Full-time childcare costs will be reduced to 150 Singapore dollars per month—around 160,000 won.
• Singapore’s total fertility rate stands at 0.87 children per woman.
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One in Five School Violence Reviews Concludes “Not School Violence”.

• Minor disputes are often reported. Last year, 56,555 school violence reports were filed across elementary, middle, and high schools. Reviews were held for 29,269 cases, and 6,454 were concluded as “not school violence.”
• A high school teacher said, “Schools are exhausted by minor disputes, but the more serious issue is that these cases steal time from reviewing major incidents in school violence committees.”
• Park Nam-gi (Gwangju National University of Education Professor) said, “When a report is filed, there is a need to filter out cases where the complaint is simply ‘I felt uncomfortable’ by having education office investigators conduct one counseling session, preventing them from advancing to the school violence committee review process.”
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ICYMI.

“No Death Row Inmates Among Silmido Operatives” Subtitle Added.

• The Ministry of National Defense’s historical truth investigation concluded that the film’s portrayal of sending criminals, death row inmates, or life prisoners as North-bound operatives is untrue.
• CJENM accepted the ministry’s request to add a subtitle clarifying the facts. While some operatives had criminal records, they were minor offenses like petty theft or shoplifting.

Illegal Wegovy Imports Surpass Legitimate Clearance by 10x.

• Wegovy 2.5mg (4-week supply) costs 270,000 won in Korea but only 74,000 won in Japan. Japan recognizes Wegovy as a diabetes treatment, keeping prices low. Terms like “Kimchi Wegovy” and “Sushi Wegovy” have emerged.
• Legitimate clearance for the first half of this year was 291 cases, while illegal imports caught totaled 5,348.
• Hong Suk-chul (Seoul National University Professor) said, “The larger the price gap, the greater the demand for illegal direct purchases.” He added, “Considering that obesity treatment can reduce future medical and social costs, broader support measures—including health insurance coverage—should be discussed.”
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All 90 in the Group Chat Were Shills.

• Finfluencer loan scams resemble meticulously staged plays targeting a single victim.
• Everyone in the group chat seemed to agree, but they were all shills.
• A victim who lost 100 million won said, “I believed the ‘mentor’ because they kept sending screenshots of profits from my deposited money—but it turned out to be a collage of fake screenshots.”
• Kim Min-hyung (Financial Supervisory Service Team Leader for Financial Crime Analysis) warned, “Those mentioning guaranteed principal or high returns on YouTube or social media are highly likely to be scammers,” adding, “Do not continue communication or send money.”
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Do Self-Introductions Still Matter?

• There’s talk that they lack discriminatory power since AI will write them anyway. SK Hynix has decided not to accept self-introductions in new employee recruitment, removing academic restrictions and focusing instead on half-day in-depth interviews.
• Kim Jeong-hyeon (Head of Jinhaksa Catch Division) said, “Companies know AI will write them anyway, so they see self-introductions as meaningless,” adding, “The trend is to strengthen face-to-face interviews instead.”
• SoftBank in Japan uses AI to analyze 1-minute self-introduction videos submitted by applicants, making initial pass/fail decisions and having HR review only rejected videos for final approval.
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Worth Reading.

Odyssean Politics.

• Odysseus ordered himself tied to the mast to avoid succumbing to the Sirens’ allure.
• Lee Dae-geun (Woosuk University Professor) emphasized, “Self-restraint and self-binding arise not from faith in overcoming temptation, but from the awareness that one might fail.”
• Lee Dae-geun added, “Power is no different,” noting, “It does not restrain itself.”
• Presidential term extensions are already impossible. Lee Jae-myung (President) has left open the possibility of constitutional revision for re-election or dismissal of charges.
• Lee Dae-geun observed, “Political leaders may hope for a deus ex machina to bring fortune, but citizens will desire a world where humans choose and take responsibility.”
• Related Link.

Is Removing the Ladder the Right Move?

• Lee Young-tae (Korea Ilbo Editorial Writer) argued, “It’s better to tolerate minor speculative demand than to sever the ladder entirely.” The message is clear: “Efforts to stabilize housing prices are one thing, but removing the very ladder that allows people to buy homes is another.”
• “Housing policy should begin by acknowledging that the tighter it squeezes, the more entrenched becomes the ‘real estate stratification’ the government so vehemently opposes. From a dilapidated villa rooftop, no ladder leads to the skyscraping towers below—and relentlessly insisting that homes are for living (Live), not buying (Buy), rings cruelly hollow.”
• Related Link.

One Person, One Vote: Party Member Sovereignty? The Result Was Yoon Suk-yeol.

• The era of party member sovereignty was first ushered in by the Saenuri Party in 2014. The situation was similar then: the intent was to build a fandom and seize control. The result? Lee Jun-seok defeated Na Kyung-won to become party leader, and Yoon Suk-yeol defeated Hong Joon-pyo to become the presidential candidate. The Kim Ki-hyun system collapsed, and the Jang Dong-hyeok system emerged.
• Seo Bok-kyung (Representative of the More Possible Research Institute) assessed, “What filled the void left by the disappearance of representative bodies was not deliberative party members, but voting machines mobilized by specific factions.”
• What about the Democratic Party? Seo emphasized, “The quantity of participation does not substitute for the quality of deliberation.” “An election system without a design for how party members see, hear, discuss, and decide cannot make them sovereign, no matter how large its scale.”
• “The void left by absent information and deliberation is filled by factional identity. The People Power Party walked this path exactly. Once party members’ votes are treated as factional resources, the party transforms from an organization competing over policy to one where people line up behind individuals.”
• Seo stressed, “Party member education must come first.” Participation in local or national committees should be mandatory. “Opportunities for learning about national agendas—climate crisis response, pensions and care, AI-era industrial restructuring, regional decline—must be provided, and a system where party members can propose and decide on party policies must be built. Government subsidies are funds given for exactly this purpose.”
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