National-news

The Coupang Breach and the Structure That Drives Platforms Toward Harm

The breach at Coupang revealed how deeply South Korea’s daily life depends on private platforms whose influence now resembles public infrastructure—without the oversight that infrastructure requires.

11 min read

Nuri’s Fourth Flight Signals a New Phase for Korea’s Space Program

South Korea’s Nuri rocket completed its fourth flight with a clean night launch, placing 13 satellites into orbit and supplying new data for the country’s reorganized space program.

6 min read

How Daiso Turned ‘Cheap’ Supplements Into Korea’s Most Expensive Habit

Daiso was credited with democratizing supplements by dropping prices to pocket-change levels. But a closer look at dosage, duration, and unit cost reveals a different picture—a market rebuilt on micro-doses, impulse purchases, and the illusion of cheap health.

9 min read

South Korea’s “Era of Regions” Meets the Limits of Centralized Power

South Korea has declared an “Era of Regions,” unveiling a five-pole development blueprint meant to challenge the gravitational pull of Seoul. Yet the regions themselves remain constrained by a governance architecture designed for an earlier period of centralized industrialization.

17 min read

How Korean Media Turned Generations into a Marketable Myth

A deep look at how South Korean media turned the language of generations into a cultural script — transforming data into identity, and journalism into marketing.

6 min read

Korea’s Chuseok Is Getting Smaller — and More Personal

With one-person households rising above 36 percent, the country’s most traditional holiday is adapting to a quieter, individual rhythm.

4 min read

Korea’s Judges, Prosecutors, and Civil Servants: Why Exam Systems Must Change

Korea’s public sector still relies on exam-based elitism to recruit judges, prosecutors, and officials. Reform is needed for democracy and the AI era.

8 min read

IMF’s Korea Review Miscast as Debt Warning

The IMF’s 2025 Article IV consultation judged Korea’s short-term fiscal policy as appropriate and urged medium-term reforms. Yet one major newspaper reframed the report as a debt crisis warning, importing figures and thresholds the IMF never used.

5 min read

Young Forty the new sandwich generation of Korea

A concept coined in the 2010s to rebrand middle age as adventurous has, by 2025, become shorthand for privilege and hypocrisy—illustrating how cultural capital erodes across generations.

13 min read

Fragmented Governance Weakens Korea’s Social Enterprises

Split oversight and shifting budgets leave cooperatives and village companies vulnerable, highlighting the need for procurement reform.

7 min read

Why Fruit Prices Remain High in Korea: Inside the Wholesale Monopoly and Reform Debate

Since the 1980s, public wholesale markets like Garak have shaped fruit distribution in Korea. Decades later, five corporations control most transactions, operating under licenses rarely challenged.

8 min read

Loaf of bread in Korea costs nearly double Japan and more than France

International comparisons show Korea leading regional price charts as the market lacks low cost supermarket anchors.

3 min read