BLACKPINK's debut music video has reached 900 million views.

It’s Friday

🌦️Cloudy Hight 33C and 25

Expect it to be rain! It’s good to have an umbrella. You are nice 😍!

 👀 Today’s Email about:

• As household debt continues to rise and inflation slows, financial stability has become the top priority.

• The former DPK chief secured a win in the party leadership primary in Seoul.

• "Made in Korea" tells the story of a British boy band that experienced the K-pop transformation, combining their music with the distinct style of Korean pop culture.

NEWS 📰

As household debt continues to rise and inflation slows, financial stability has become the top priority.

“Financial stability is of greater priority for now, despite inflation showing signs of continuing its downward trend toward 2 percent,” Rhee said during a press conference at the central bank in Seoul.

Recently heightened concerns over an economic slowdown due to a restrictive monetary policy, in that sense, lack consideration for the central bank’s mandate, he said.

In his view, state think tanks have called for a prompt easing because their focus on consumption and economic growth does not account for financial stability. 

“The household debt buildup involves the most interest-sensitive spending, tied almost exclusively to real estate market sentiment,” he said. 

"The country’s property market is fraught with major red flags, as indicated by the latest data. We should prioritize curbing debt more urgently for the time being," he said. 

The aftereffects of rate cuts on consumption are, he added, diminishing due to the population decline.

“The economically most productive age group aged 20-49 is shrinking, while their older, low-paid counterparts over 65 with reduced purchasing power are increasing. Monetary easing in this context will have a limited, delayed impact on spending recovery,” he said.

The central bank revised its GDP growth outlook to 2.4 percent for this year, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous forecast.

The revision is warranted by the fading impact of a one-off, stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter. However, the underlying growth trend remains unchanged and is still well above the country’s potential growth rate of 2 percent.

Thursday's decision was expected, according to Park Seok-gil, executive director of JPMorgan Chase Bank Asia Economic Research.

“Since the April meeting, we expected that the first rate cut will occur in the fourth quarter with signals for a rate cut in the third quarter,” he said.

“Thursday’s signal was not strong enough to provide a clear view on near-term actions, but the central bank is moving closer to a rate cut in the October-December period. We now see a 25 basis point rate cut as more likely in November rather than October. The exact timing remains uncertain,” he added.

However, hawkish messages still linger.

“The rate freeze decision was unanimous without the minority vote we expected. This highlights even the most dovish member remains cautious over household debt buildup. Further strengthening the hawkish tone is Rhee’s strong opposition to a rapid easing cycle, citing the risk of a rebound in home prices,” he said.

Park Chong-hoon, a director at Standard Chartered Bank Korea, said the central bank is preparing for the much-anticipated easing, as evidenced by the number of dovish committee members increasing to four, double from two.

“Two more members are open to easing, a significant development. This coupled with tempered inflation and downgraded economic growth forecast are all steps for an easing in the months to come.” 

Korea plans to launch an AI-based King Sejong Institute platform by 2027.

South Korea plans to launch a generative AI-powered platform by 2027 to expand access to Korean language courses through the King Sejong Institute, which promotes Korean language and culture globally. This new platform, called "i-Sejong Institute," will allow students worldwide to learn Korean without time or location constraints, using AI for real-time interactions with virtual teachers.

Since its start in 2007, the King Sejong Institute has grown to 256 centers in 88 countries, but demand still exceeds capacity, with 15,000 students waiting for courses. The government aims to increase the number of centers to 300 by 2027 and improve support through regional hubs.

The plan also includes doubling the number of test centers for the Sejong Korean Language Assessment to 100 by 2027. Culture Minister Yu In-chon emphasized that the institute serves as a key gateway for learning about Korean language and culture.

ENTERTAINMENT 🌄

BLACKPINK's debut music video has reached 900 million views.

Blackpink: Their debut music video "Whistle" has reached 900 million views on YouTube, making it their 10th video to do so. "Whistle" is from their debut single "Square One," which also features the hit "Boombayah," now with 1.7 billion views.

Jin (BTS): Jin is promoting Seoul with the slogan “Feel Soul Good,” appearing at landmarks like Gyeongbokgung and N Seoul Tower. He recently completed his military duty, launched a "Run BTS" spinoff show, and participated in events like the 2024 Paris Olympics torch relay.

Yoon San-ha (Astro): He will hold his first solo fan concert “Dusk Till Dawn” in Japan and Seoul. His solo EP “Dusk” topped iTunes charts in 12 regions, and the music video for “Dive” has 10 million views.

Ateez: The group will release a DVD collection titled “The World: To The End” on Oct. 22, featuring over 500 minutes of content from their “The World” series. They're currently on a fan meeting tour in Japan and will soon release their fourth Japanese single, “Birthday.”

JOB UPDATES 💼

See You Tomorrow,

Unravel Korea!