Today we are moving in to our first own house here in Korea and my wife told me that the first thing moving into a new house should be the rice cooker. This is why we are bringing it with our car instead of letting the moving company take it wit them. This way we can make sure it's the first of our things moving in.

[2026-07-29] CNBC

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday he would try to derive a mutually beneficial trade agreement with the United States.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korea's finance minister apologized on Wednesday after retail investors racked up heavy losses from leveraged bets on stocks, following rule changes earlier this year.

The May 27 introduction of single-stock leveraged Exchange Traded Funds has seen Korean retail investors pile in with net purchases of 14 trillion won ($9.7 billion), compared with roughly 2 trillion won by foreign investors, according to KB Financial Group.

But the speculative trading boom that helped fuel one of the world's hottest equity markets has resulted in those investors nursing heavy losses as Korea's Kospi index has experienced a sharp correction, led by a downturn in chip stocks.

The pain has been especially acute for holders of single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had surged alongside the AI-driven semiconductor rally.

The KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage ETF — a product designed to deliver twice the daily move in SK Hynix shares — has fallen more than 80% since its June 23 peak, according to LSEG data.

The equivalent product tracking Samsung has fallen almost 75% from its peak on June 3.

It comes after a blistering rally in the Kospi has come to an abrupt halt, with jitters over chip stocks seeing the value of the index plunging almost 35% over the last month.

See Chart...

The Kospi's fortunes have reversed in recent weeks as investor jitters have rattled the index's largest constituents

South Korea's finance minister Koo Yun-cheol accepted lawmakers' demand for an apology in a parliamentary session on Wednesday after single-stock leveraged ETFs were introduced without careful consideration, according to Reuters.

The country's Financial Services Commission Lee Eog-weon also said on Wednesday that the regulator is considering cutting off access to the products to all but professional investors.

Lee told the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee in Seoul that "if necessary, there is a way to raise [the investment requirements] up to professional investors," according to the Seoul Economic Daily.

He added that regulators could lower the leverage multiple of single-stock leverage products if the necessary legislation is prepared by lawmakers.

Lee said: "Since [the tracking multiple of] two times is too large, lowering it would likely have an effect in terms of easing volatility." He added, "We will look into how to take investors into account, such as through beneficiary general meetings, together during the process of considering the bill."

— CNBC's Lee Ying Shan and Blair Baek helped contribute to this report.

tværpostet fra: https://feddit.dk/post/23221162

Journalists love to get Korea wrong. Some are paid to share explosive takes that feed into the subsconscoius orientalist views of the wider world; others just do it for the social media clout.

There is a weird sensation that comes from watching someone deliver a sociological autopsy of a nation in a 14-minute YouTube video essay.

Korea is currently occupying this weird hyper-visible cultural sweet spot where it is simultaneously a global entertainment superpower and, at the same time, a distant canvas for Western anxieties.

Historically, this Western "dystopian" template was first aimed at Japan. Back in the late 80s and 90s, when the American imagination was absolutely terrified of Tokyo buying up Manhattan, Japan was the original blade-runner-esque, soul-crushing corporate hive-mind.

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We are on our annual leave, this year for the first time glamping which is glamorous camping.

As a foreigner I've been suffering every single summer in Korea, not so much because of the heat but because of the humidity.

But this year it is so different. It 's not raining, so the humidity is at a perfect 55%, air pollution at a green 30 and temperature at a perfect 29 degree.

Is this what climate change is?

I feel like it's a summer like in one of the Nordic countries.

I didn't know you could buy Cannabis at a convenience store in Korea.

Swedish Ambassy in Seoul is mixing cultures.

The Gyeonggi Content Agency (President Tak Yong-seok, hereinafter KCA) announced that it will hold a special exhibition where visitors can directly experience PlayXpo Award winners and excellent indie games recommended by Indie Game Group Korea (hereinafter IGGK) from June 15 to 26 at ‘POPUP7@Pangyo’ on the 7th floor of the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center in Pangyo.

For Kim Min-ji, 34, the Seoul Queer Parade is a holiday, much like Seollal or Chuseok. “Compared with when I first came here, I have many friends I can meet at

In most countries, dropping out of high school is treated as a warning sign. In South Korea, it is increasingly becoming an admissions strategy.

A growing number of students are leaving school not because they have given up on education, but because they want more of it. They are calculating that the most efficient route to a university place lies outside the classroom.

Why does Korea only have those unofficial trashcans made of a plastic bag and some harder plastic poster bend into a circle?

There are no official normal trashcans provided by the municipality, and I always wonder who empties those makeshift ones.

I also wrote about the trash and recycle container situation in a blog post a couple of years ago: https://jeena.net/trash

Just got one of those alarms:

“From Friday, May 29 to Saturday, May 30, due to the Republic of Korea Air Force Space Challenge event, noise from Black Eagles aircraft flights is expected. Please be cautious of possible surprise or disturbance. [Gyeonggi Provincial Government]

And really every two minutes in the morning there was some airplane above us and quite loud.

One in 14 people aged 24 and under who visit an emergency room in Seoul following a suicide attempt or self-harm returns within two months for the...

...

The findings come as suicide has remained the leading cause of death among Korean youth for 14 consecutive years since 2011, claiming more than three times as many young lives as safety accidents did in 2024.

According to youth statistics released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last week, the number of deaths among those aged 9 to 24 stood at 1,749 in 2024. Suicide was the leading cause at 10.9 deaths per 100,000, followed by safety accidents at 3.3 and cancer at 2.6.

I've always liked Makgeolli but lately my wife ordered a premium pack of them and a whole now flavor world opened.

Now we already drank 2 of the 5 bottles but this limited edition made me make this post. It's super thick and amazingly flavoufull. Also tastes quite strong. It's very different to what you get at the convenience store, I' surprised how different it is.

My wife said she wanted to buy some which would taste like in her childhood/teenage time, she says the normal ones taste somehow industrial.

I have to say the difference is like the difference between Terra and Chimay. Can only recommend. But it's fresh so can't really shipping it far, only good for 1-2 months it seems.

South Koreans are cashing out of insurance policies and savings deposits, chasing higher returns by piling into local stocks' breakneck rally. Policy surrender

A CNN Travel writer shared an awkward experience of being turned away from two restaurants in Seoul while trying to eat alone, saying solo dining i...

After traveling to Japan where solo dining always been a huge thing, when coming to Korea in 2015 I was very surprised. I came here with a friend who does not eat pork and that meant that for the whole 2 weeks I was not allowed to order anything pork either because every restaurant would only offer for at least two people.

I think it has changed now quite a bit but apparently not fully.

tværpostet fra: https://feddit.dk/post/21589617

Super amazing website that contains descriptions of individual Korean buddhist temples, as well as specific architectural features and artwork.

Relevant for this community, because he describes various Korean folkloric deities:

• The mountain spirit
• The dragon king
• Ten kings of the underworld
• The Seven Stars
• Fireplace king

Generally, you can find articles describing individual deities, folkloric, buddhist or otherwise in the section about artwork.

[NAVER Maps]
ACH SO
125-7 Yangjae-dong Seocho-gu Seoul
https://naver.me/xLEIEkbO

There is a interesting thing here in Korea, since my son was born people stopped calling me by my name and started calling me ' dad', even my wife!