Featured Business & Economy 3 February 2023 Mushroom Sales: a Recession Indicator Mushroom, kombu, and paprika sales predict an economic downturn.
Featured Starter Kit 2 February 2023 South Korea and the Middle East: a Primer South Korea has long had a mercantilist approach in the Arab world, which is increasingly difficult to maintain.
Featured Business & Economy 1 February 2023 January 3 Real Estate Plan: a Desperate Bid to Revive the Market Yoon administration removed nearly all regulations designed to prevent speculation in hopes that buyers will return.
Featured Newsletter 30 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 4, January 2023 Soaring heating bills put pressure on the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The People Power Party continued its internal squabbles over the chairman race, while the Democratic Party battled prosecutors.
Featured Blue House 30 January 2023 0% Truth from the Office of the President, Says SNU Fact Check Center Not a single disputed statement from the presidential office was true.
Featured Society 28 January 2023 Obituary: Cho Se-hui, 80, Novelist of The Dwarf The Dwarf, which described and denounced the urban poverty in South Korea's growth era, is among the most influential novels of the late 20th century.
Featured Business & Economy 27 January 2023 Serial Deaths of “Villa Kings” Expose the Weakness of the Jeonse System Suspicious demise of highly leveraged real estate holders left thousands of tenants in a bind.
Featured Conservatives 26 January 2023 People Power Party's Game of Thrones Trying to strengthen his grip over the ruling party, Yoon Suk-yeol bulldozes over potential challengers.
Featured Society 25 January 2023 Numerous Journalists Received Bribes from Daejang-dong Ringleader The bribed journalists took a critical stance against Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party.
Featured Newsletter 23 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, January 2023 Yoon Suk-yeol again found trouble abroad as he declared Iran “our enemy” while on a visit to the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Yoon’s spy agency raided progressive groups and labor unions, claiming they were communist spies.
Featured Blue House 23 January 2023 "Nothing": Most Common Answer for "What Did Yoon Administration Do Well?" Labor policy, real estate policy were next.
Featured Blue House 20 January 2023 Yoon Pardons Lee Myung-bak and Former Park Geun-hye Administration Officials Mass pardon cancelled out virtually all punishment for corruption and abuse of authority in the two conservative administrations.
Featured National Security 19 January 2023 North Korean Drones: Yoon Responds with Ignorance and Bluster Unable to do anything against North Korean drones, Yoon Suk-yeol called for nuclear armament and "expansion of war."
Featured Blue House 18 January 2023 Yoon Administration Proposes 69-hour Work Week The new proposal would allow up to 80.5 hours of work per week.
Featured Newsletter 16 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, January 2023 Yoon Suk-yeol called for South Korea’s nuclear armament. Also: the internal strife within the People Power Party for the party chair election.
Featured Society 16 January 2023 “Korean Age”: Meaningless Change in Law Delights International Media No, Koreans did not get a year younger.
Featured Business & Economy 13 January 2023 Dunchon-dong Redevelopment Project Subscription Augurs Trouble Anemic demand for new luxury condos signals rough roads ahead for Seoul's real estate market.
Featured Blue House 12 January 2023 Yoon Administration Appeals to Xenophobia, Attacks Immigrants Despite the need for immigrants to combat demographic decline, conservatives stoke racist bigotry for political gain.
Featured Key Players 11 January 2023 Roh Ok-hee, 64, Ulsan Superintendent Who Fought for Disadvantaged Students Roh was a labor activist who advocated for Afghan students resettled in Ulsan.
Featured Newsletter 9 January 2023 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, January 2023 North Korean drones fly into Seoul's no-fly zone. TBR's first newsletter of 2023 is super-sized to catch up on the last two weeks of South Korean politics news.
Featured Conservatives 9 January 2023 Conservatives Seek to Limit Voting Rights for Foreign Nationals Measure is aimed at ethnic Koreans who are Chinese nationals.
Featured Business & Economy 6 January 2023 Credit Crunch Crushes Startups South Korea’s start-up companies are the latest victims of fallout from the Legoland Bond Crisis.
Featured Business & Economy 5 January 2023 In the Truckers’ Strike, the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration Sees Opportunity Crackdown on labor unions is buoying the unpopular administration.
Featured Society 4 January 2023 Rural Extinction in Numbers: Data When a town falls below 2,000 residents, it can no longer support basic necessities like a restaurant, laundromat or barbershop.
Featured Media 3 January 2023 MBC Cleans up in Ratings Since Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration, the liberal-leaning TV station soared in viewership.
Featured Blue House 2 January 2023 First Lady Clearly Involved Stock Manipulation Scheme, Still Faces No Investigation Deutsche Motors stock manipulation trial continues to produce evidence against Kim Geon-hee.
Featured Announcement 30 December 2022 TBR's Most Read Stories of 2022, and a Special Thank You The Blue Roof's had a successful second year.
Featured Blue House 29 December 2022 2022 Year in Review: An Error-Ridden Beginning for Yoon Suk-yeol, with More to Come Failing both domestically and internationally, Yoon Suk-yeol focused solely on attacking his adversaries with selective application of the law. Expect more of the same in 2023.
Featured Society 28 December 2022 ‘Erring Without Correction': 2022 Idiom of the Year Runner-up: "What is covered up only shines brighter."
Featured Culture 27 December 2022 Move Over BTS: Im Yeong-ung and IU Take Top Spots of 2022's Best Poll shows younger generation favoring K-pop's most streamed artists, while the older generation gravitated toward trot superstar.
Featured Conservatives 26 December 2022 Yoon Administration Takes Jeju Massacre Out of History Textbooks Ministry of Education justified the move as "exploring the foundation of the Republic of Korea based on liberal democracy."
Featured Society 23 December 2022 2022 Qatar World Cup: South Korea Delivers Instant Classic Defeating Portugal 2-1, the Taegeuk Warriors reached the Round of 16 for just the third time in eleven tries.
Featured Newsletter 21 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 2, December 2022 A year in review in TBR's final newsletter for 2022.
Featured Conservatives 19 December 2022 Seoul City Council Shuts Down TBS Radio for Hosting a Popular Liberal Pundit Seoul Mayor O Se-hun: "TBS should reflect on whether it has been faithful to its role as a publicly owned station."
Featured Media 16 December 2022 International Press Shines in Itaewon Disaster Coverage The excellent coverage by the foreign press is putting the South Korean press to shame.
Featured Society 15 December 2022 South Korea's War on Drugs A "drug-free nation" begins its own problematic program.
Featured Business & Economy 14 December 2022 FTX Wreckage Washes Ashore in South Korea Busan's ambition to be a crypto hub took a hit.
Featured Newsletter 13 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 1, December 2022 The National Assembly again recommended that a cabinet minister be terminated. Also: The Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s appeals to xenophobic bigotry.
Featured Society 12 December 2022 Overwhelmingly Negative Response to the Handling of Itaewon Disaster: Poll A plurality called for Yoon Suk-yeol's entire cabinet to resign.
Featured Conservatives 9 December 2022 People Power Party Calls for Nuclear Armament The ruling conservative party issued a report proposing “a secret project to secure the potential for nuclear armament” by studying “the optimal course for nuclear armament.”
Featured Society 8 December 2022 Itaewon Disaster Drip-Feeds into Politics Victims' families are beginning to gather, and the National Assembly launched its investigative committee.
Featured Business & Economy 7 December 2022 Truckers Strike Again for Minimum Guaranteed Pay Truck drivers are demanding continuation and expansion of the Freight Safety Fee.
Featured Newsletter 5 December 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 5, November 2022 The Yoon Suk-yeol administration cracked down on the truckers’ strike. South Korea’s men’s national team made a glorious run in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Featured North Korea 5 December 2022 Greater Attention and Pessimism over North Korean Human Rights: Data More focus, but less hope.
Featured Blue House 2 December 2022 The Ex-President's North Korean Dogs Kim Jong Un's gift became a source of tension between Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk-yeol.
Featured Media 1 December 2022 Yoon Administration Continues to Attack MBC News Exclusion from the ROK Air Force One and massive tax audit are only a prelude of what is to come.
30 November 2022 International Nuptials are Fewer, but More Normalized: Data Credit: Public domain. South Korea’s labor market wasn’t the only thing affected by COVID-19 restrictions. (See previous coverage [https://www.blueroofpolitics.com/post/labor-crunch-threatens-manufacturing/], “ Labor Crunch Threatens Manufacturing.”) South Korea’s marriage market was also affected: according to the Bureau of Statistics 통계청 2021 survey of multicultural demographics,
Featured Newsletter 28 November 2022 TBR Weekly Update: Week 4, November 2022 Families of the victims of the Itaewon Disaster held their first press conference as the National Assembly opens a legislative investigation.
Featured Business & Economy 28 November 2022 Coupang Finally Turns Profit After Eight Years After years of terrible labor conditions and decline in share price, Coupang is finally making money.
