North Korea’s Audacity: Threatening to Turn on Loudspeakers?

• Kim Yo-jong (Director-General of the Workers’ Party of Korea) said, “Psychological warfare loudspeakers will be operational within October.”
• She made the remark after inspecting the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) area yesterday.
• “The border is clearly blocked and increasingly fortified. The fact that we face the world’s most vulgar and ugly enemy across this border is a horrifying tragedy—and thus this border must become a permanent, uncrossable line.”
• Park Jong-chun (Advisor to the North Korean Ministry of National Defense) stated, “If the enemy escalates provocations beyond warning broadcasts and warning shots to threaten safety, we must immediately counterattack.”
• The South Korean government has stated it will consider proportional responses if North Korea resumes broadcasts. This could include turning on its own loudspeakers and restarting radio broadcasts.
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Asking Gemini.

• “The argument that the Prosecutor General and the head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Office cannot attend Cabinet meetings is unconstitutional stubbornness.”
• Lee Jae-myung (President) shared the AI response on X.
• After criticism erupted over the attendance of Kim Ji-yong (head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Office), Lee Jung-hyun (acting Prosecutor General), and Kim Jong-cheol (acting Police Commissioner General) at the Cabinet meeting, he cited this AI response.
• Lee emphasized, “Just as I do not give specific approval or permission instructions to ministers, I will not give specific investigative directives, so there is no need to worry.”
• Yoo Seung-ik (Director of the Judicial Monitoring Center at the Participatory Democracy Network) said, “This reads as a message that the President will deal directly with the head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Office and give instructions on broad directions,” adding, “If investigative agencies handle cases related to the government or ruling party in the future, no matter how fairly they proceed, their impartiality could be questioned.”
• Cha Jin-a (professor at Korea University) pointed out, “With Cabinet meetings broadcast live, seeing investigative agency heads present could create the impression that they are acting on the President’s orders.”
• The Hankyoreh editorial noted, “Dismissing such criticism and concerns as stubbornness and sophistry makes constructive discussion and consensus difficult.”
• A Democratic Party lawmaker interviewed by The Korea Herald argued, “It is not advisable to immediately view attendance as external pressure,” adding, “Understanding the direction of state affairs and the President’s leadership can be helpful for their work.”
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AI Answers That Change with Every Question.

• When a JoongAng Ilbo reporter asked Gemini the same question, it gave the opposite answer: “The head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Office attending Cabinet meetings infringes on investigative independence.”
• In an editorial, JoongAng Ilbo criticized, “The president didn’t consult state institutions or constitutional scholars responsible for legal interpretation—just cited an AI response prone to error. It’s baffling to see the nation’s highest authority relying on such a source.”
• Donga Ilbo asked ChatGPT and Claude the same question. ChatGPT noted, “The political neutrality of investigative and prosecutorial agencies is a separate issue from legal permissibility,” while Claude responded, “The real issue is appropriateness, not legality.”
• Jo Yong-sul (People Power Party spokesperson) released a statement: “Citing AI responses to counter concerns about shaken political neutrality is as weightless as a feather for someone responsible for state affairs.”
• Lee Jun-seok (Reform Party lawmaker) remarked, “If you’re going to govern by asking Gemini, why not just replace the president with Gemini?”
• Han Dong-hoon (Independent lawmaker) stated, “Even if you bring ‘Gemini’s grandfather,’ the president shouldn’t command investigations or prosecutions.”
• A Blue House official defended, “The AI response the president posted wasn’t an opinion—it was a factual interpretation of the constitution. The president added perspective and commentary after verifying the facts.”
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What Matters Now.

Is This the Chaebol Wish-Fulfillment Act?

• The Democratic Party is pushing through exceptions to the 52-hour workweek.
• Park Sang-hyeok (Democratic Party lawmaker) proposed the ultra-metropolitan special zone bill, which has drawn criticism for containing numerous poison pill clauses—including exemptions from the 52-hour rule, for-profit hospital establishment, and special-purpose school creation.
• Kim Sung-hee (director of the Industrial Labor Policy Research Institute) criticized it as “a heinous bill that bundles provisions even the Yoon Suk-yeol government hesitated to enact.”

The 4.05 Million Won and 2.11 Million Won Divide.

• The wage gap between regular and non-regular workers has widened to 1.94 million won.
• They rose by 4% and 1% to 4.05 million won and 2.11 million won, respectively.
• As of August, non-regular workers numbered 8.67 million—39% of all wage workers. Both scale and proportion are the highest since data collection began in 2003.
• Kim Nak-hyun (Head of Employment Statistics Division, National Data Service) explained, “The increase in part-time workers, who have shorter working hours and lower wages, is a key factor.”
• The rate of receiving severance pay is 96% for regular workers and 46% for non-regular workers.
• Non-regular workers’ national pension enrollment rate is 37%, and health insurance enrollment rate is 53%.
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National Inquiry Before Cho Hee-dae’s Impeachment.

• Cho Gye-won (Democratic Party spokesperson) said, “We need time to share the rationale and grounds for impeachment with the public.”
• Jeong Cheong-rae (former Democratic Party leader) pushed back, “The best course is to decisively move forward with impeachment.”
• Lee Yeon-hee (Democratic Party lawmaker) stated, “If we impeach the Chief Justice—the head of the judiciary—the public may view the Democratic Party as acting unilaterally and recklessly.”
• A Democratic Party lawmaker interviewed by JoongAng Ilbo warned, “If the Constitutional Court rejects the impeachment, backlash from the capital region and moderates could negatively impact the next general election.”
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Self-Curated Exhibition Controversy, Yoo Hong-jun Resigns.

• Yoo Hong-jun (Director General of the National Museum of Korea) submitted his resignation, and Lee Jae-myung (President) promptly accepted it.
• Kim Hong-nam (former Director General of the National Museum of Korea) noted, “The most dangerous thing in public office is the intrusion of ‘private’ interests—and that is exactly what happened.”
• Jeong Jun-mo (art critic) proposed, “The director should focus on institutional management, while exhibition planning and verification should be the responsibility of the chief curator and curatorial staff.”
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Deep Dive.

Cruel Starting Line Inequality.

• Children from families in the top 10% income bracket had a 94% regular employment rate.
• Those from the bottom 10% stood at 23%.
• Children from the lowest 10% income households had only a 19% chance of securing regular employment by age 29—compared to 78% for the top 10%.
• In an editorial, Dong-A Ilbo pointed out, “Parental income has become a powerful weapon that goes beyond mere living expenses, buying the ‘time’ needed to build the specs and job experience required for hiring.”
• Dong-A Ilbo emphasized, “Low-income youth are forced into non-regular or temporary positions due to livelihood instability, perpetuating lifelong income gaps and inherited social status,” adding, “Society as a whole must urgently and fiercely address this cruel starting line inequality.”
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Falling Cigarette Sales Shrink Firefighting Budgets.

• Fire safety grants are funded by 45% of the tobacco excise tax.
• Next year’s budget allocates 760.5 billion won—28% less than this year.
• Of last year’s 8.1 trillion won in local firefighting budgets, only 10.7% came from national funds.
• National contributions to personnel costs were 8.6%.
• Jeong Yo-an (Suwon University professor) proposed, “Firefighting funding must be decoupled from tobacco.”
• “Legally mandate the state’s share of personnel costs and gradually raise it to over 50%,” he argued.
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Special Prosecutors’ Office: Botched Investigation and Prosecution.

• 251-member investigation team’s 180-day effort yielded meager results.
• In the Yoon Seok-yeol official residence relocation trial, a judge remarked, “How can you just write ‘facts of indictment’—four characters?”
• In the Corporal Chae case trial, the prosecution’s evidence list was so inadequate that the court stated, “The trial cannot proceed in this condition.”
• According to the Korea Daily, “The special prosecutors’ office is worse than a rookie prosecutor.”
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Why Anthropic Cannot Delay Its IPO.

• The company has simply grown too large. Whether it succeeds or fails, it must go public and secure funding.
• Projections suggest Anthropic’s committed infrastructure costs will reach $750 billion.
• First-half revenue was $16.3 billion—15 times higher than a year ago—but net losses hit $80.7 billion.
• Over the next 7–10 years, the company must pay over $600 billion to cloud providers under existing contracts.
• Funding is becoming increasingly difficult. With lenders demanding over 10% returns, an IPO is the only way to avoid severe cash flow crises.
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Big Brother Nvidia.

• Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO) wasn’t joking when he said, “I’m Europe’s largest venture capitalist.” Everyone is looking to Nvidia.
• Not just the U.S. and South Korea—Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia, and others are all relying on Nvidia’s market outlook to build sovereign AI.
• Axios pointed out, “Countries seeking independence are dependent on a single American company.”
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Another Take.

Samsung + Nicks Leverage ETF Losses Hit 63 Trillion Won.

• Estimated from transaction records of 10 securities firms between May 27 and August 14. Calculations suggest losses could exceed 100 trillion won when accounting for October’s crash.
• Leveraged ETF investments continue even during market crashes.
• Lee Min-hwan (Inha University professor) noted, “With the market’s sharp swings, people think they can profit handsomely if they time it right—but in reality, individuals find it extremely difficult to do so,” adding, “Seeing a few successful cases, they fall into the illusion of thinking, ‘Maybe I can win the lottery too.’”
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KOSPI Forward P/E Ratio at 4.2x.

• Low P/E (price-to-earnings ratio) means stock prices are set low relative to earnings.
• Excluding semiconductors, the ratio jumps to 9.2x.
• Han Ji-young (Kiwoom Securities analyst) said, “The semiconductor boom may be creating an optical illusion,” explaining that current prices reflect both massive near-term profit forecasts and concerns that the 2–3-year boom could end.
• A securities firm official interviewed by The Hankyoreh noted, “Semiconductor prices may dip by year-end 2025 and domestic demand could slump,” adding that the P/E could be reasonable under that assumption.
• The KOSPI index rose 3.3% yesterday to 5,735.7.
• All three major U.S. indices rose yesterday: the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq gained 0.58%, 0.69%, and 1.05%, respectively.
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China Becoming Japan.

• China’s housing starts are down 78% from peak levels. Youth unemployment stands at 18.9%. Public + private debt is 300% of GDP.
• China hasn’t collapsed yet because exports remain alive—but deflationary pressures are severe. Talk of a balance sheet recession has emerged, as weakening demand spirals into a vicious cycle crushing the economy.
• The “lost 30 years” narrative is surfacing.
• Tsugami Toshihiro (Research Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs) noted, “They’re only treating symptoms, while the underlying problems grow worse and more serious.”
• Exports and savings rates remain strong. The analysis is that fears of an uncertain future are weighing on the Chinese economy.

Why Netflix’s Market Value Lost $300 Billion.

• Subscriptions are declining as releases underperform.
• Spending $20 billion annually on content, yet viewing time grew only 2% in the first half of this year. Qualified play days (QPD) also fell.
• Cutting 6% of staff (1,000 employees) won’t solve the core issue.
• Ted Sarandos (Netflix co-CEO) admitted, “The virtuous cycle of our business is working,” but added, “We’re not growing as fast as we’d like.”
• Rich Greenfield (LightShed Partners analyst) assessed, “Netflix is now a ‘show-me story’ company that needs to prove itself.”
• Last year, paid subscribers totaled 330 million, revenue was $45 billion, and net profit was $11 billion.
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Yalta Season Two.

• Trump, Putin, and Xi could gather to decide Ukraine’s fate—without Ukraine.
• Vladimir Putin (Russian President) proposed the meeting, and Donald Trump (U.S. President) agreed.
• The Wall Street Journal warned, “It could be a mistake sowing seeds of greater conflict.”
• The warning: “A new triumvirate dividing the world into spheres of influence would undermine U.S. international credibility as a reliable ally.”
• Forcing Ukraine to submit could shatter NATO. South Korea and Japan would also see the U.S. as a dangerous friend. A Chinese move on Taiwan becomes more likely.
• Park Hyun (Hankyoreh columnist) forecasted, “Next month’s APEC summit in China might inadvertently become a forum legitimizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
• The analysis: “This could symbolize the arrival of a ‘spheres of influence’ order—where great powers dictate the fate of smaller nations—replacing the ‘rules-based order.’”
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Building an LNG Terminal Here?

• Kyunghyang Shinmun reporters found Nikiski, Alaska, to be a barren wasteland.
• Cathy Giessel (Alaska State Senator) stated, “The actual project cost is expected to reach $100 billion.” The U.S. is asking South Korea to invest $54 billion.
• Giessel advised, “If South Korea actually invests at that scale, it must secure control and oversight of the project.”
• Concerns also arise that costs could more than double. Money Today argued in an editorial, “If ‘commercial viability’ isn’t guaranteed, we should persuade the U.S. to withdraw.”
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Park Sung-jae’s Sentence Reduced from 25 to 9 Years.

• Park Sung-jae (former Minister of Justice) was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of participating in a rebellion’s key tasks, but the appellate court acquitted him of some charges.
• Park was accused of actively participating in the rebellion by instructing the inspection of correctional facility capacities, among other actions. However, the charge that he ordered personnel dispatch to Shim Woo-jeong (then Prosecutor General) was not substantiated.
• The appellate court ruled that Park knew the emergency martial law was unconstitutional, while maintaining its judgment that he actively participated.
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Gyeonggi’s Bottomless Pit.

• Welfare spending accounts for 39% of Seoul’s expenditures but 45% in Gyeonggi Province.
• If this trend continues, it could rise to 60%—a claim made by Choo Mi-ae (Gyeonggi Governor).
• Lee Sang-min (Research Fellow at the Korea Local Finance Research Institute) criticized it as a “classic rain-fed field structure.” Gyeonggi, relatively financially stable, typically does not receive grants. Semiconductor tax revenue is allocated to cities and counties. With real estate transactions declining, acquisition taxes have fallen by 28% compared to four years ago.
• Choi Hyun-seon (Myongji University Professor) stated, “Efforts to improve the fragile revenue structure must be accompanied by reducing unnecessary welfare spending and ensuring accurate tax revenue projections.”
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“South Korea Is Not a Country the U.S. Must Protect.”.

• Michelle Stahl (U.S. Ambassador to South Korea) said this. “At times, China poses a significant threat,” she emphasized, “but cooperation is the most critical aspect and the direction we must pursue.”
• “Both South Korea and the U.S. are undergoing turbulent times,” she noted, “and now is the time for South Korea—having received so much help since the Korean War—to demonstrate leadership.”
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“The ROK-U.S. Alliance Could Become a Curse.”.

• Moon Chung-in (Professor at Yonsei University) warned, “While the ROK-U.S. alliance has contributed to South Korea’s security and economic development, it could increase the risk of being drawn into future U.S.-China conflicts,” adding, “It may become a curse rather than a blessing.”
• Song Min-soon (former Minister of Foreign Affairs) countered, “Alliances are neither blessings nor curses—they are realities.” He argued that the transfer of wartime operational control is about switching the driver’s seat and passenger seat between the U.S. and South Korea, not a matter of framing it as a relationship of taking and being taken from.
• Song Min-soon emphasized, “If we approach it like retrieving stolen historical documents—saying ‘we must reclaim it’—cooperation becomes difficult,” adding, “It must not be framed as a relationship of taking and being taken from.”
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AI Minimizes Social Suffering.

• After implementing a synthetic Korean persona in AI and posing questions, it generated the statistically most probable image of a ‘healthy, problem-free Korean’—with fewer cases of hypertension and diabetes and significantly lower suicide risk than reality.
• Kim Seung-seop (Professor at Seoul National University) noted, “The data humanity has produced over millennia is infused with the perspectives of mainstream powerholders,” adding, “Thinking we can scrub those biases like a virus reflects human arrogance.”
• Kim emphasized, “We must remember that these models, while astonishingly powerful in specific domains, could amplify inequalities in others.”
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Even After Restraining Orders, Victims Remain Unsafe.

• The Korea Times profiled a stalking victim whose request to extend a no-contact order was denied—ostensibly because the couple was still legally married. The victim stated, “Three months is woefully insufficient to take practical steps like divorce or relocation.”
• Preliminary police data shows violations of provisional measures surged from 533 cases in 2022 to 1,103 last year. Sixteen victims under police protection for relationship-based crimes were killed between 2021–2025.
• Song Ran-hee (Executive Director of Korea Women’s Hotline) urged, “The focus must shift to swiftly and decisively sanctioning perpetrators.”
• Cho Yoon-hee (attorney) emphasized, “Criminal punishment criteria and victim protection measures should be separated” and stressed, “Once concrete threats are identified, protective measures must be activated immediately and preemptively.”
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The Fix.

Planting Buckwheat Flowers Brought Back the Bees.

• Chungcheongbuk-do spent 4.8 billion won to create 259 hectares of bee pasture—equivalent to 360 soccer fields.
• The Korea Forest Service’s bee pasture area, 17,818 hectares by the end of last year, will expand to the size of 30,000 soccer fields by the end of this year.
• Kim Hye-young (Forest Resources Officer, Korea Forest Service) stated, “Bees that feed on pollen from these pastures see a 60% increase in lifespan and 50% rise in reproductive capacity.”
• The tourism effect is also significant: 40,000 visitors flocked to the buckwheat flower festival in Cheongju’s Sangdang-gu Jeomjeong-ri village.
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Two-Thirds of Transmission Grid Subsidies to Go to Affected Villages.

• The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment’s proposed solution.
• A revised enforcement decree allocates 2 billion won per kilometer to local governments, mandating up to two-thirds be distributed to areas near transmission and substation facilities.
• Resident briefings will be held from the site selection stage onward to increase community participation.
• A plan was also announced to designate “solar income villages” and redistribute additional power generation profits.
• Lee Jae-sik (Power Grid Policy Director, Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment) stated, “We will also prioritize on-site communication to ensure power grids become facilities that coexist with local communities.”
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What If Good Kimchi Was Sold for Money?

• Park Chan-yong (food columnist) proposed, “We should get used to paying for restaurant kimchi.”
• It’s about wanting to pay for proper kimchi instead of tasteless factory-made kimchi.
• “Why not create something like a Kimchi Agency? Or a Kimchi Corporation. The government could establish strict kimchi standards for restaurants forced to serve bland factory kimchi, then produce kimchi meeting those standards and allocate it to public eateries. In other words, government-led standardized kimchi. If we’re going to solidify our image as kimchi’s homeland, why not try this? If taxes were spent this way, I’d accept it.”
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Ask AI for Another Opinion.

• GochoaAI is a digital democracy project created by Japan’s civic hackers. It gathers and presents alternative viewpoints. Gochoa means “to listen widely.”
• Nishio Hirokazu (Cybouz Senior Researcher) said, “The wall between oneself and the ‘enemy’ built by preconceptions becomes an opportunity to discover that ‘though opinions differ, the goal is the same.’”
• Kawabe Yuki (Code for Japan Representative) said, “No matter how advanced technology becomes, implementing it into actual systems is the work of administration and politics. Ultimately, it depends on the will of politicians and the institutional political sphere.”
• The Korea Ilbo, which has been intensively covering YouTube tribalism, released its public discourse diagnostic tool ‘Fair Listening’ as open source. It numerically shows whether the same material is repeatedly repackaged without shifting focus, how much certain groups’ voices are missing, and whether a few individuals dominate the discourse.
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ICYMI.

Third Attempt to Push Out “Bukang-i” Succeeds.

• The rescue operation to return the shark “Bukang-i,” which has been staying in the artificial waterway of Busan North Port Waterfront Park for over a month, succeeded.
• First, attempts to guide it by shooting water jets failed.
• Second, attempts to pull it out with large nets also failed—it jumped over the nets and returned inside the waterway.
• Third, attempts to push it out by floating pontoons and hanging nets were at least partially successful. It is still circling the waterway.
• Since its first appearance on the 18th of last month, 1.66 million visitors have come to see Bukang-i. A Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official met by Chosun Ilbo said, “As water temperatures drop, it is expected to head to warmer southern open waters.”
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Artex Attacks Japan Too.

• Artex, which attacked banks and securities firms in South Korea, has now targeted Japan. Originally a tool for finding network vulnerabilities, it is being misused as a network attack weapon.
• Since it’s freely downloadable and usable by anyone, the cost of attacks remains extremely low.
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Will the Einstein Test Succeed?

• Could learning all human knowledge up to 1901 allow one to create the theory of relativity in 1905?
• Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind Chair) predicted that AGI (artificial general intelligence) could be possible within 2–3 years.
• “Bad regulation is worse than no regulation at all,” he argued.
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1200 vs. 200.

• The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange’s IPO volumes this year: $120 billion and $20 billion, respectively.
• The key question is whether Anthropic’s $10 billion IPO will follow SpaceX’s $86 billion valuation.
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Worth Reading.

Everyone Seeks Only Experience.

• Myeong-Woo Roh (Ajou University Professor) pointed out, “A society that skips the novice’s training process can never cultivate the next generation of experts.”
• “Technology is impressive but never omnipotent, and it is humanity’s role to guard the gates of opportunity beyond algorithms,” he added.
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Nuclear Cherry-Picking? Build and Share.

• Allowing companies to purchase electricity directly (PPA) means they’ll naturally seek the cheapest power—the reason the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment opposes PPA.
• Lee Jae-myung (President) once noted, “The public bears the risks and social costs of nuclear power, while only a few large corporations in specific sectors monopolize its benefits—an exceptional privilege requiring caution.” “If one steelmaker gets preferential treatment, others will follow, and eventually, companies across industries will demand the same,” he argued.
• Cho Cheong-myeong (former POSCO Plant-Tech CEO) proposed discussing a system to share burdens and benefits.
• For the 2 GW of baseload power needed for hydrogen-reduction steelmaking, 1.4 GW would come via nuclear PPA, and 0.6 GW from small modular reactors built directly by companies. “Let’s become an industry that builds first, then takes,” he suggested.
• Cho Gwi-dong (Political Consulting Min Strategy Director) advised that the Reform Party and Innovation Party need organization and ideology to build a solid voter coalition. “Transform the immediate (in-itself) voter base into a self-aware (for-itself) group with clear goals and principles,” he said.
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Feedback.

Today’s State Council Audit.

• Slow News is covering the State Council Audit intensively.
• [Special Audit Coverage Page] updates twice daily.
• [Rep. ◯◯◯’s Audit Notes] compiles key issues by individual lawmakers. Top 12 performers are selected daily.
• [Today’s Corporate Issues] highlights major corporate controversies.
• [Daily Audit Report] tracks key debates and context by committee.
• Below is the list of October 21 audit reports:
• 2026 October 21 Legislative and Judiciary Committee Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Education Committee (Chonnam National University, etc.) Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Education Committee (Pusan National University, etc.) Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Public Administration and Security Committee (Ulsan Metropolitan City) Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Public Administration and Security Committee (Busan Metropolitan City) Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Public Administration and Security Committee (Busan Police Agency) Audit Report.
• 2026 October 21 Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee Audit Report.
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