Why "Please Pay by Card" Is More Frightening Than Voice Phishing

Sep 17, 2026 14 min read --

An elderly woman looking worried while holding a credit card while on the phone

Can the Yuan Surpass the Dollar with CIPS?

Sep 15, 2026 13 min read --

On September 12, the BRICS summit was held in New Delhi, India. BRICS Summit in India

China's Unhidden Dual Economy: The Hidden Side of 'New Quality Productive Forces'

Sep 15, 2026 13 min read --

While browsing economic news last week, I noticed something strange. On one hand, there are headlines about China’s semiconductor equipment investment hitting an all-time high, while right next to it, reports show China’s real estate construction area has slumped once again. It’s the same country, the same month, yet …

The Shadows of the Chinese Economy Revealed by 35 Months of Negative PPI

Sep 15, 2026 14 min read --

From parts 1 to 4, we followed how New Productive Forces policies move money, and how that capital manifests in dark factories, AI models, and quantum security networks. It was a story of splendor.

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Why China is Planting Quantum Tech in its Banking Networks

Sep 15, 2026 7 min read --

At this very moment, some of the encrypted data traveling across the internet may already be secretly copied and stored on servers by someone. It doesn’t matter if they can’t decrypt it now. The calculation is that once quantum computers are commercialized in about 10 years, they can simply decrypt it all at once.

Why China is Releasing Top-Tier AI Models as Open-Weights

Sep 15, 2026 12 min read --

The dark factories and robots discussed in Part 2 need a brain. The companies building those brains all gathered in Shanghai last summer for the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026.

Why China’s 'Genius Classes' Are Expanding Eightfold: The Pipeline Behind 15-Year-Old College Students

Sep 15, 2026 13 min read --

In part 3, I briefly mentioned that DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng is a graduate of Zhejiang University. However, following this series to the end, I realized that single line was part of a much larger story.

Why the Lights-Out 'Dark Factory' Trend is Spreading to Cities

Sep 15, 2026 13 min read --

Last December, South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan made headlines after visiting Xiaomi’s electric vehicle (EV) plant in Yizhuang, Beijing, and sharing his experience on social media.

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The Illusion of 47% Food Self-Sufficiency: The Truth Behind Grocery Prices

Sep 14, 2026 6 min read --

“Is it true that a single pack of ramen costs 2,000 won?” Last year, President Lee Jae-myung asked this question during an emergency economic inspection task force meeting.

The Real Reason Behind JPMorgan's Skyrocketing Price Target for Samsung Electro-Mechanics

Sep 11, 2026 6 min read --

I recently checked my stock app and thought I had misread the numbers. Samsung Electro-Mechanics was up over 15% in a single day. It’s not exactly a semiconductor bellwether; it’s a components company that makes capacitors and substrates.

Did Trader Joe's Really Start With Two Newspaper Articles?

Sep 09, 2026 11 min read --

A few days ago, I watched a video about Trader Joe’s on the MBC 14F YouTube channel. I’ve never been to the US, but I remembered seeing their eco-bags somewhere, so I clicked play.

Is SpaceX Really a Rocket Company? Looking at the Revenue Numbers

Sep 04, 2026 7 min read --

I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the headline of a Barron’s article. ** “SpaceX is the next Amazon.” ** Amazon started as an online bookstore and is now a retail giant spanning logistics and cloud computing, while SpaceX is a rocket company, right? Since the industries are completely different, I wondered what …

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Why do Neoclouds start by piling up debt?

Sep 04, 2026 10 min read --

In early July, I read an article that Meta was preparing its own cloud business, reportedly named ‘Meta Compute.’ The news alone caused shares of Nebius and CoreWeave to drop 15% in a single day. At first, I wondered why the reaction was so extreme, but it turns out Meta is a major customer for both companies. The …

Louisiana Announcement: Was It Really One Day After the 13th Launch?

Sep 04, 2026 13 min read --

A few days ago, while skimming through some trend briefing materials, I caught a specific sentence. It described the $100 billion announcement in Louisiana as happening the day after Starship’s 13th test flight concluded quietly.

Is Buying the KOSPI Index Diversification? Actually, It's All-In on Semiconductors

Sep 03, 2026 11 min read --

A few days ago, the YouTube algorithm pushed an interview my way. The title was provocative. “The One Treasure I Gained from Having a $700,000 Lunch with Warren Buffett.” I clicked, and there was Mohnish Pabrai, an Indian-American investor, talking about Korea.

Why Bonuses Vanish in an Instant: The Reality of Mental Accounting

Sep 03, 2026 7 min read --

A few days ago, my year-end tax refund hit my bank account. It was only a few tens of thousands of won, but that evening alone, I opened and closed my food delivery app three times. Eventually, I placed an order. The strange thing is, I would never do this on the day my monthly salary comes in. It’s the same bank …

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Walmart's Nasdaq Move: It Was 53 Years, Not 13

Sep 03, 2026 11 min read --

I was watching a video recommended by the YouTube algorithm when I had to pause because of a single number. The video claimed that Walmart had moved its listing to Nasdaq “after 13 years.” Wait, Walmart has only been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for 13 years? That didn’t sound right—my memory suggested it had …

Homeplus Rehabilitation Plan Approved: Why It’s Too Early to Celebrate

Sep 02, 2026 8 min read --

A news alert popped up on my phone this afternoon: “Homeplus rehabilitation plan approved by the court.” My first thought was simple: Oh, thank goodness, it’s finally over. Having heard the news about the start of rehabilitation proceedings last March, followed by reports of entire stores closing over the summer, that …

YouTube 'Backdoor Advertising': Why Has It Remained Unchecked Until Now?

Sep 02, 2026 7 min read --

I saw ‘YouTube ads’ trending on portal search engines this morning and wondered what it was about. It turned out to be an announcement that the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) are significantly strengthening regulations on YouTube advertisements by securities …

The Yen Bank Run: Uncovering the Real Danger

Sep 02, 2026 14 min read --

While reading news about the KRW/USD exchange rate hovering around the 1,500 won mark, I kept seeing mentions of a “Japanese bank run” in the comment sections. At first, I thought it was just another internet rumor. But after searching, I found that the term “yen bank run” is actually searched quite frequently, and the …

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Taiwan's GDP Has Surpassed Korea's—So Why Don't Ordinary Citizens Feel It?

Sep 02, 2026 9 min read --

A few days ago, I paused after seeing a table on a major news portal’s economic page. It reported that Taiwan’s per capita GDP had surpassed South Korea’s, and the comment sections were sharply divided. Some asked, “Is Taiwan really that wealthy?” while others noted, “If you visit Taiwan, it feels like a different …

We Paid Back the IMF in 2001, So Why Are We Still Paying in 2027?

Sep 02, 2026 9 min read --

When I saw the news headline, “Public Funds from the Asian Financial Crisis: A Period Put to Repayment After 30 Years,” I initially thought it was a typo. Wasn’t the ‘IMF graduation’ something that already happened in 2001? It’s a well-known historical fact—taught in schools—that President Kim Dae-jung declared in …

Did a single flower change the vacancy rate of downtown San Francisco?

Sep 01, 2026 7 min read --

A few days ago, I happened to see a photo of San Francisco’s Union Square, and the entire plaza was a field of tulips. Behind it stood old department store buildings, and in front, colorful flowers were spread out like a carpet. People weren’t just walking by; they were crouching down and picking up armfuls of flowers. …

Shareholder Returns: Why Does Nexon Earn in Korea and Distribute in Japan?

Sep 01, 2026 9 min read --

On August 14, Nexon stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange soared by the daily limit of 20%. The reason was dividends. With a special dividend of 415 yen per share plus a regular dividend of 60 yen, this year’s total dividend reached 475 yen per share. Based on the stock price on the day of the announcement, the dividend …

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Why Did the KTX-SRT Integration Happen Now?

Sep 01, 2026 7 min read --

Last night, a news story caught my eye. It reported that on the day before the integrated operations began, the CEO of Korail not only presided over a meeting at the Daejeon headquarters but also personally visited Seoul Station in the afternoon to inspect the control room. I initially thought it was just a standard …

Why You Should Add Cyclicals to Your Portfolio Alongside IT Giants in September

Sep 01, 2026 7 min read --

Until yesterday, all I had to talk about was semiconductors. The general consensus was: buy Samsung Electronics, buy SK Hynix, and just follow the index for the rest. However, while browsing through a few reports this morning, an unfamiliar term caught my eye: ‘Cyclical.’ I did some digging to understand why this term …

Behind Nvidia's Earnings, the Cycle Has Changed Its Shape

Sep 01, 2026 9 min read --

On August 26, 2026, Nvidia announced quarterly revenue of $96.221 billion, a 106% increase year-over-year, beating market consensus of $92.3 billion by 4%. The data center segment alone reached $89 billion, growing 117% from the previous year. Net income approached $59.7 billion, marking the 13th consecutive quarter of …

The Yen Crisis: Why the Bank of Japan Cannot Raise Rates

Sep 01, 2026 11 min read --

I recently published a post summarizing the talk of a yen bank run. By placing figures like the 45 trillion yen in Bank of Japan (BOJ) unrealized losses on government bonds and the 15 trillion yen in losses for life insurers alongside the SVB crisis, I concluded that “the likelihood of a bank run is low; the real risk …

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The Real Reason Aramco Invested 9 Trillion Won in Korea Isn't Just About Crude Oil

Aug 30, 2026 8 min read --

The Thought That China Is Bigger If a Middle Eastern oil-producing nation were to choose a partner, wouldn’t it naturally be China? Their economic scale, political influence, and investment capacity are incomparable. However, this conventional wisdom has been shaken in recent years as we see Saudi Aramco pouring …

Who Determines Exchange Rates? The Structure of KRW/USD Rate Determination

Aug 30, 2026 11 min read --

A few days ago, I was checking a currency exchange app and noticed the numbers changing every second, which struck me as odd. If this is truly real-time, where do these numbers actually come from? I wondered if there was an ’exchange’ for the KRW/USD rate—like a stock exchange—where you could watch an order book and …