Proud to report that I made a meme consistent with this years ago :)

#AKPS announces #cfp for the 5th Korean Political Studies Colloquium #KPSC. If you want to be part of a a great network of scholars, you don't want to miss this opportunity. Details can be found: textvulture.github.io/presentation...

K-19 hits differently now for obvious reasons. The early 2000s when this was made feels like an ancient history (My teenagers found the narrative *strange*).

That's surprisingly swift. Expected the whole 'election fraud' allegations. Pleasantly surprised.

If democratic backsliding is well-contained, would that relieve the financial market stress? I say yes. Using augmented synthetic control, I show that S. Korean stock market rallied more (24%) than its counterfactual once Yoon's fate was semi-sealed. Presenting this at ISA. *8:15* Mon.

Came home immediately upon this alert. It’s spring break and there are fewer ppl on campus, but that doesn’t mean that this isn’t serious. #GMU

Some of the 🥘 I made in the past week.

Assigning this gem by @mcopelov.bsky.social & @tompepinsky.com to my grad class. Sold on the title alone. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Cooked almost all lunches and dinners in the past 6 days. Exhausted the repertoire now.

This capture image shows up everywhere and I don't think this was entirely coincidental. The text says "Yoon 'Smiled' When SP Demands Death Sentence and the Court Thrown into Turmoil" all the while Lee-Dakaichi summit was happening.

Anybody interested in S. Korean politics or policy might have already been watching this -- the Korean government is currently hosting the National Policy Report Conference. Almost all government branches, government-sponsored projects, institutes, and public firms are subject to it. 1/3

For a second, I was like: 'sure, post-doc really is a crime.' 😅 . . . It's a NBER postdoc opportunity if you're interested: www.nber.org/calls-papers...

For those who still follow the debate. #vdem

Think lines represent backsliding cases. Thin red lines are everything else. Few downward trends.

A random history pic on Korea's Independence Day: At the end of WWII, OSS and the Korean Liberation Army trained on Eagle Project (dispatching Korean soldiers into Korea for behind-the-line special ops). The war ended before the op could pan out. But I sometimes think abt what would've happened.

Lee Jae-myung is poised to win the presidential election in S. Korea, according to the exit polls conducted by the three major news networks. Many aspects of this election deserve extensive discussion. What stood out to me immediately is the gains Lee made from the conservative stronghold. 1/2

The Constitutional Court upholds Yoon's impeachment (consensus). He is immediately removed from his position. Korean democracy proved resilient.

Presenting two papers at #ISA2025. If you are in Chicago on Wednesday, stop by!

Kids’ sports schedule dictates when we have dinner. 4:30, today.

For those following Korean TV shows:

In a Constitutional Court session, Yoon's lawyer: "If he really meant a military coup, he would've cut the power and water and silenced the media **unless he was a fool**." (rough translation) I don't know. Is he trying to say something? 😂😂😂 #SKorea #insurrection

YTN captured a nano-second moment from a near-impossible angle.

Just for a record to keep.

Yoon desperately avoiding to be spotted, trying to leave no image of arrest. He released a video, perhaps taken a bit ago, claiming that the legal system in South Korea 'collapsed' because, you know, he was arrested for an insurrection that the whole world watched live.

Dude got arrested while I was doing the dishes. I missed a critical moment.

It's 2025, so I am trying on Quarto-based HTML syllabi, ditching PDFs. Not sure how students will react to it, but tired of revisions made on the syllabus not being communicated well. Global Affairs Capstone Research: textvulture.github.io/syllabi/GLOA...

Myung, a political broker, has been the biggest bombshell in S. Korea in recent months. It now seems to be a good bet to assume a possible tie with him when anyone makes a head-scratching move, particularly in defense of the insurrection: when it blows out, they all go down. Shame.

A typical headline of (most) Korean press: "Kwon (ruling PPP) said DP destroys the rule of law ... Lee (DP): Choi is another insurrectionist." Not different from saying 'flat-earthers noted the earth is flat while others suggested that it is round.' 🤦😱 #bothsidesism

The far rightwingers gathered around, while annoying, never posed any serious threat to the authorities. Nowhere near 'dramatic.'