Category: Korea-General Topics

This is not surprising that the ROK would not further open up these markets. Long time Korea watchers may remember what happened back in 2008 with the U.S. beef protests. President Lee is not going to have that happen again on his watch:

South Korea’s markets for rice and beef will not be further opened under a tariff deal with the United States, a senior presidential official said Sunday.

Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, made the remarks during an appearance on a KBS news program amid lingering uncertainty over the details of the tariff deal.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Horrible flooding tragedy currently going on in South Korea:

Seventeen people have been killed and 11 have gone missing in the heavy rains and landslides that began across South Korea four days ago, the government said Sunday.

The data from the interior ministry and the National Fire Agency, as of 6 p.m. Sunday, also showed that a large portion of the toll — 10 dead and four missing — occurred in the southern county of Sancheong.

The other deaths occurred in Osan and Gapyeong in Gyeonggi Province; Seosan, South Chungcheong Province; and Dangjin, South Chungcheong, and the southwestern city of Gwangju.

Firefighting officials said rescue work was still under way in Sancheong, which could lead to a change in the toll.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If proven that Yoon Suk-yeol was trying to get North Korea to launch a provocation against South Korea to justify martial law, this seems like it would be an abuse of power:

This image, provided by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 19, shows the remains of a drone that Pyongyang claims was sent from South Korea. The drone was described as the same type that was publicly displayed on Armed Forces Day in Seoul earlier in the month. [YONHAP]

“The search warrants are being executed at 24 military-related locations,” the special counsel team said. “We cannot disclose the exact sites due to military security concerns.” 
  
Investigators are probing whether Yoon, as commander-in-chief, directly ordered the drone command in October 2024 to carry out a drone operation over Pyongyang to manufacture conditions justifying a martial law declaration. The investigation is also examining whether the military engaged in a systematic cover-up. 
  
A recorded testimony from an active-duty officer — already questioned as a witness — claims that Kim told subordinates the order came from “V,” and had to proceed without notifying the Defense Ministry or Joint Chiefs. The officer said the operation included dispersing propaganda leaflets and intentionally exposing drones to North Korean detection. “V” is a designation used by the South Korean military to refer to the sitting president, and is used especially when dealing with matters of national security or covert operations. It is shortened from “VIP,” which is also used to refer to the president.

“The search warrants are being executed at 24 military-related locations,” the special counsel team said. “We cannot disclose the exact sites due to military security concerns.” 
  
Investigators are probing whether Yoon, as commander-in-chief, directly ordered the drone command in October 2024 to carry out a drone operation over Pyongyang to manufacture conditions justifying a martial law declaration. The investigation is also examining whether the military engaged in a systematic cover-up. 
  
A recorded testimony from an active-duty officer — already questioned as a witness — claims that Kim told subordinates the order came from “V,” and had to proceed without notifying the Defense Ministry or Joint Chiefs. The officer said the operation included dispersing propaganda leaflets and intentionally exposing drones to North Korean detection. “V” is a designation used by the South Korean military to refer to the sitting president, and is used especially when dealing with matters of national security or covert operations. It is shortened from “VIP,” which is also used to refer to the president.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest in regards to where South Korea stands in the global trade war with the Trump administration:

Calls are mounting for Seoul to refrain from signing a tariff deal hastily with Washington, as the leaders of Japan and other U.S. trade partners criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s letters threatening “reciprocal” tariffs he said will take effect on Aug. 1.

Amid the limited impact of the U.S. tariff threats on the stock market, speculation is also growing that the Lee Jae Myung administration will maintain a cautious approach — though it has ostensibly vowed to accelerate trade negotiations.

After receiving Trump’s letter Tuesday, Lee remained silent on the issue during public events. The presidential office also said Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, prioritized the national interest over immediate negotiations during an emergency meeting with relevant ministry officials that day. (……)

Rep. Kim Joon-hyung of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, a former chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, said in a radio interview Wednesday that Korea should be in solidarity with Japan to reject unilateral requests from the U.S.

Myongji University professor Kim Tae-hwang advised Korea to align with Japan and the European Union, both of which are key trade partners of the U.S.

These suggestions were backed by Trump’s inconsistency in the tariff deadline, which has been ridiculed with the term “TACO,” which stands for “Trump always chickens out.” According to Forbes, the U.S. president has flip-flopped 28 times regarding his tariff policy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Trump has actually brought Korean leftists in line with Japan due to the current trade dispute.

The use of paper straws was a bad idea from the start and it appears Starbucks Korea is trying to couse change:

Around 200 Starbucks stores in South Korea are testing out plant-based plastic straws after customers complained about the durability of the coffee chain’s paper straws. Starbucks Korea, which operates approximately 2,000 stores, on Wednesday introduced bioplastic straws made from sugarcane, a company spokeswoman said by phone Thursday.

The company received complaints — many of them from customers at branches in hospitals and family housing districts — about the durability of the paper straws, prompting Starbucks to explore other materials, the spokeswoman said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what is the most ridiculous thing about the paper straws is that depending on what you order, they serve it to you in a plastic cup with a plastic lid. If Starbucks was so concerned about the environment why didn’t they use only paper cups and biodegradable lids?

Foreigners are not supposed to be involved in political activity while in South Korea and doing something like this will likely get their visas cancelled:

Six American nationals were caught early Friday in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, while attempting to send plastic bottles filled with rice, $1 bills and Bibles to North Korea.

The group, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s, allegedly tried to launch about 1,300 bottles into the sea at around 1 a.m. on Friday, according to South Korean police.

The South Korean military, which had been monitoring the coastline using surveillance cameras, spotted the group and reported them to police. The group was caught before putting the bottles in the ocean.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It appears the policies of prior President Yoon did have one positive impact which is improving the birthrate:

The number of babies born in South Korea rose at the fastest pace in 34 years in April from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, driven by a rise in marriages and demographic changes.

A total of 20,717 babies were born in April, up 8.7 percent from 19,059 babies born a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the steepest on-year increase in monthly births since April 1991, when the figure also rose by 8.7 percent.

It was also the first time in three years that the number of monthly births surpassed the 20,000 mark after hitting 21,164 in April 2022. 

The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, also rose by 0.06 from a year earlier to 0.79 in April.

“The rise in births appears to be influenced by increased marriages since last year, growth in the population of women in their early 30s, and various birth promotion policies by the central and local governments,” an official at Statistics Korea said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but we will see if President Lee can continue this momentum to improve the birth rate with his policies.

The number of millionaires in South Korea continued to grow this year:

South Korea had the world’s 10th-highest number of millionaires globally last year, with 1.3 million individuals holding wealth exceeding $1 million, or 1.37 billion won, a report showed Thursday.

According to the Global Wealth Report 2025, released by Swiss investment bank UBS, the figure marked a slight increase from 1.2 million recorded in 2023, placing the country 10th among 56 countries surveyed.

There were about 60 million millionaires globally, holding a total of $226.47 trillion in wealth.

The US topped the list with 23.8 million millionaires, accounting for 39.7 percent of all millionaires worldwide.

The report noted that the millionaire population in the US rose by 379,000 throughout last year, meaning about 1,000 people joined the millionaire club each day.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.