Earlier readings
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Posts
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Why Seoul’s Unification Ministry is Going Rogue
On Foreign and security policy
While open warfare between Seoul’s ministries suggests policy paralysis, the deeper reality is that President Lee is prioritizing market stability and the US alliance over his party’s ideological nostalgia; expect the “Alliance First” status quo to hold despite the noise....
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The Actor, Nuna-gate, and Bone Broth
On Media, culture and the public mood
A celebrity scandal has exposed the deep-seated “siege mentality” of South Korea’s left. The “nuna” scandal exposes the informal, personalized power structures in the President Lee’s office. The ruling Minjoo Party is milking the martial law incident for too long,...
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A Xi-style purge, with a nuclear submarine on the side
On Foreign and security policy
What is Lee’s endgame with nuclear-powered submarines? Seoul’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines inevitably make Seoul more dependent on Washington, but does the Lee administration understand it?
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The Statesman Abroad, The Civil War at Home; Unions calling for delaying retirement
APEC summit: President Lee at his best Lee’s surprisingly adept performance at APEC buys him international capital, but his true test remains domestic: maintaining this newfound statesmanlike grace against escalating internal party challenges.
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Nuclear-powered submarines; NewJeans and Corporate Korea’s crisis management
On Foreign and security policy
Is Seoul ready for nuclear-powered submarines? The ROK-US submarine deal is less about Seoul’s long-held ambitions and more about Washington’s urgent need to bolster its anti-China naval capacity—a move that hands Korea’s defense industry a massive opportunity and an equally...
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