Lee Jae Myung

Money Moves

Driving the 'Three Mega Projects' industrial plan

South Korea's chip buildout is starting to produce contracts. On August 10 the government said it would launch a 5 trillion won ($3.5 billion) fund for chip materials, parts, equipment and fabless firms, add 5 trillion won of trade finance, and pass a special act this year to speed the new manufacturing hubs. On September 29, Korea Land and Housing Corporation awarded a Daewoo E&C-led consortium the $639 million first-phase works at the Yongin complex, where Samsung's first fab there is planned.

Updated 13 hours ago

Money Moves

Says the project must meet commercial viability and legal preconditions

South Korea still has not committed a dollar to Alaska LNG. Nearly three weeks after President Trump announced a $54 billion Korean investment, Seoul says it will decide only after the developer makes a final investment decision and the project proves commercially viable.

Updated 3 days ago

Built World

Reached trade agreement with Trump in October 2025

The United States and South Korea selected a $22.3 billion natural gas power campus in Encinal, Texas, as the first project under their strategic investment agreement. The site will generate 6.47 gigawatts of electricity, enough to feed a 5-gigawatt data center campus being built next door by Related Companies.

Updated 5 days ago

Force in Play

Completed state visit to China in January 2026; Pyongyang has dismissed Seoul's outreach as 'wishful thinking' amid continued missile tests.

On January 4, 2026, North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles traveling 900-950 kilometers at 50-kilometer altitudes, its first test of the year. Hours later, Kim Jong Un ordered a 250 percent production capacity increase at a tactical weapons factory. The launch coincided with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's departure for a state visit to Beijing. In April, North Korea fired more missiles from Wonsan, including short-range weapons traveling 240 kilometers and an extended-range missile over 700 kilometers, extinguishing hopes for an inter-Korean thaw.

Updated 7 days ago

New Capabilities

Observed the HGV test in person; pushing rapid development and deployment

South Korea launched its first domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle on October 8, with President Lee Jae-myung watching from the test site. The weapon separated from its booster at altitude, dropped low, and maneuvered at more than five times the speed of sound before striking its target.

Updated Oct 13

Force in Play

Accused Ukraine of violating a non-disclosure agreement over the POW transfer; recalled ambassador on Oct 8

Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly on Sept 23 that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. Seoul says the disclosure broke a secrecy deal, and it has demanded an apology and recalled its ambassador from Kyiv.

Updated Oct 10

Money Moves

Managing extended crisis response; supplementary budget submitted March 31 and oil price relief payments began April 27

South Korea's stock market was the world's best performer in early 2026, with the KOSPI peaking at 6,347 in late February. When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the passage for roughly two-thirds of the country's crude oil imports, the index crashed 19% in two days, the worst two-day drop in its history.

Updated Sep 12

Force in Play

Reaffirms plan to retake wartime operational control of South Korean troops by 2030 and calls for a faster nuclear-submarine program

President Trump ordered the Pentagon to shrink the largest annual U.S.-South Korea military exercise. The drill ended six days early, on Aug. 21 instead of the planned Aug. 27, after the Pentagon canceled or simulated some live-training events.

Updated Aug 20

Money Moves

Advancing corporate governance reforms and stock market development agenda

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI stock index crossed 6,000 points for the first time on February 25, 2026. It completed its climb from 5,000 to 6,000 in just 34 trading days, the fastest thousand-point advance in the index's history.

Updated May 29

Rule Changes

In office

South Korea hasn't executed anyone in 28 years. On January 13, 2026, prosecutors asked a Seoul court for former President Yoon Suk Yeol's death sentence; three days later, another court handed down a five-year sentence for obstruction of justice—the first of eight verdicts from his December 3, 2024 martial law declaration.

Updated May 21

Force in Play

In office since June 2025, term ends 2030

South Korea handed control of its military to the United States during the Korean War's desperate opening weeks in 1950. Seventy-five years later, Seoul is finally on the verge of getting it back. The new permanent Combined Ground Component Command—activated in January 2026—is the fourth of six command structures now operating year-round, putting a Korean general at the helm of ground forces for the first time.

Updated May 20

Rule Changes

In office after June 2025 snap election triggered by Yoon’s removal

South Korea just made the quiet part of the 2024 martial-law crisis unmistakably loud: the country's top police officer is out for good. On December 18, 2025, the Constitutional Court removed National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho, ruling he helped former President Yoon Suk Yeol's power grab by using police to block lawmakers from reaching the National Assembly floor.

Updated May 15