Here is the Korean government’s latest initiative to drive down housing prices:

The government will increase supplies of residences by 114,000 units over the next two years, including repurposing hotel rooms and office space.    
   
This is the 24th set of real estate measures introduced by the Moon Jae-in government, which has been trying to drive down real estate prices since its first day in office in May 2017.    
   
The units promised Thursday will be let on jeonse, or lump-sum deposit, contracts to attempt to bring down skyrocketing jeonse prices.   
   
According to the Land Ministry on Thursday, 61 percent, or 71,400 units, will be supplied in the greater Seoul area, which includes Incheon and Gyeonggi.    
   
In Seoul alone, 35,300 units will be supplied.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

I wonder what the male Korean college students that have to do their mandatory service think of the special treatment given to K-Pop stars? To be fair athletes have been getting special treatment in the past as well:

The National Assembly’s defense committee on Friday approved a bill that would allow distinguished male pop culture artists to postpone their mandatory military duties.

The committee gave its nod to the bill to revise the Military Service Act to grant an exceptional right to defer military duties of acclaimed pop artists, such as BTS, who are recognized to have contributed to the elevation of the country’s global reputation. 

The bill must pass parliament’s plenary session for final approval. 

The revision was proposed by Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the ruling Democratic Party in September after BTS became the first South Korean pop artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with its song “Dynamite.”

“BTS members will be able to put off their enlistments until the age of 30 if this bill passes through a plenary session and a related enforcement decree is revised as well,” the lawmaker said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If North Korea was going to start a provocation cycle they will wait until the Biden administration is in charge in order to gauge their reaction:

There are no signs of any imminent provocations from North Korea that it would test its weapons, Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), said Friday.

His remark came amid concerns that Pyongyang may conduct military provocations such as a weapon test to draw Washington’s attention after the election of Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. president, as it has done in the past.

“We haven’t seen any signs that a test is imminent,” Abrams, who is also the commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) and the United Nations Command (UNC), told reporters during a press conference to mark his two-year anniversary of leading the three separate commands, at CFC headquarters at United States Army Garrison (USAG) Yongsan in Seoul.

But the CFC commander said that the military would need more information before it can speculate whether there will be more missile tests in the future ― next month or January, for example, taking a prudent stance over the matter.

Korea Times

This is really something more Korean troops should take part in because the NTC is some of the best training I have ever done in the Army:

Dozens of South Korean troops visited a U.S. military training center in California and staged combined training exercises with American service members, officials said Wednesday.

Around 50 Army members, including those from a reconnaissance unit, carried out various joint maneuvers with the U.S. troops at the U.S. Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC) for about a month from mid-October, according to the officials.

They returned home Tuesday and have been quarantined for the new coronavirus, they added.

Initially, the Army was scheduled to send troops to the training center earlier this year, but the plan was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The NTC had been closed for months to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.