The Pros and Cons of the Jeonse System: Why It’s Essentially an Interest-Free Loan

Sep 12, 2026 8 min read --

There are already many articles that list the pros and cons of the Jeonse system separately. However, when you place the lists side-by-side, something strange becomes apparent.

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.

Fitch's View on South Korea's 2027 Budget: Why It Might Be Temporary

Sep 10, 2026 13 min read --

I recently saw a headline on a portal site that read, “Fitch praises South Korea’s fiscal improvement,” and I was about to scroll past it.

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 U.S., but I remembered seeing those tote bags somewhere, so I clicked play.

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How to Read Economic Indicators: Why You Should Look at the Gap, Not Just the Numbers

Sep 09, 2026 7 min read --

One night last month, when U.S. employment data was released, I found myself scrolling through Twitter (though everyone calls it X these days, the name still doesn’t roll off my tongue) until dawn.

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 …

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.

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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 …

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 …

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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 …

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 …

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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 Nexon Earns in Korea and Distributes in Japan

Sep 01, 2026 8 min read --

On August 14, 2026, Nexon’s stock price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped by the 20% daily limit. The source of funds for this shareholder return was dividends sent by Nexon Korea, yet Nexon Games, the group’s only domestic listed company, has never paid a dividend since its inception. The difference isn’t due to …

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 …

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Nvidia's Circular Financing: Why Guarantees Instead of Investments in 2026?

Sep 01, 2026 8 min read --

When the announcement of a “up to $100 billion investment in OpenAI” broke in the fall of 2025, Nvidia’s stock price soared. However, by July 2026, reports of a potential “OpenAI guarantee” caused the stock to drop nearly 5% in a single day.

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 …

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 …

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The Day Nvidia Stopped Being Just a Chipmaker: The Meaning of $500 Billion

Aug 28, 2026 13 min read --

A friend of mine recently sold all of his Nvidia stock. When I asked him why, he said, “It’s not a semiconductor company anymore.” Why would someone call a company that still derives most of its revenue from chips anything else?

Prospect Theory: Who Designs Your Choices?

Aug 28, 2026 10 min read --

In 2002, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to someone who had never spent his life in an economics department. Daniel Kahneman was, by trade, a psychologist. What he proved was not a market equilibrium equation, but rather that the same person transforms into an entirely different being when facing gains versus …

The Reason Korean Traditional Liquor Disappeared Lies in the Tax Code

Aug 27, 2026 15 min read --

You push open the door of a convenience store and open the refrigerator. About twenty varieties of green bottles stand in a row. Only the label designs differ; the liquid inside is virtually identical. In a narrow section next to them, a slight layer of dust rests on two or three bottles of traditional liquor.

Why Nvidia's Earnings Surprise Failed to Ease Market Anxiety

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read --

Nvidia announced that its revenue for the past quarter reached $96.22 billion. That is $4 billion higher than the market consensus of $92.1 billion. Earnings per share also beat expectations, and Q3 revenue guidance exceeded the average analyst forecast by more than $7 billion. Data center revenue jumped 117% …

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Banks Make the Nation — The Invention of Power Not in the Constitution

Aug 26, 2026 8 min read --

Read the Constitution from beginning to end, and you will not find the word “bank” even once. The powers to coin money, collect taxes, and raise an army are spelled out clearly, yet the power to establish a bank is nowhere to be found. And yet, on February 25, 1791, George Washington signed the bill creating the …

Debt Is a Blessing — The Birth of National Credit

Aug 26, 2026 8 min read --

In January 1790, the newborn United States was on the verge of bankruptcy. Paper currency printed by the Continental Congress during the war had collapsed in value and turned into virtually worthless scraps, while promissory notes distributed to soldiers in lieu of pay traded in the market at a fraction of their face …