Jamie Doucette

Bohyeong Kim too.

Ah, great to see this. The Offshore State is such a classic.

Yoonai Han I am a human geographer with expertise on urban and digital studies, contemporary Korea, and East Asia. I examine shifting forms of displacement at the intersection of class, gender, land, and technol...

Yoonai Han has written a bit about the sort of feelings that animate these groups and the way they engage feelings of precarity and suspension amidst a decline in social mobility. Check out her work. www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmemb...

nonce classic

Associated groups such as VC firm Hashed have invited Balaji Srinivasan and have connections to 논스. Ah, looks like they've now split or 'hard forked' between strictly crypto and more-than-crypto groupuscles. nonceclassic.org/about

... but the project seems animated by a kind of gospel of prosperity despite calling themselves a 'basecamp' for future revolutionaries. They have several buildings in Seoul's expensive Gangnam neighbourhood and entertain crypto founders when they visit Seoul (e.g Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin).

nonce 논스 공간 소개

A very weird example of such (in Korea) is an unfortunately named group called 논스 Nonce (after the cryptographic term). Its co-working/co-housing community modelled on bitcoin's idea of 'proof of work'. They also preach decentralization, nonce.community/space

Been waiting a long time to see this implemented. It’s an incredibly important revision to labour law. The next few months as it takes effect will be interesting to watch. But Perhaps I have high hopes.

I may have said it before, but I find the argument that a lot of contemporary cyber-reactionary thought is an upside down, private property-based version of late 90s alter-globalization mov't imaginaries compelling. E.g. Srinivasan's Network State vs. Hardt and Negri's Empire/Multitude.

Hard agree with this analysis. I think a main contradiction of the Silicon Valley/tech right is a vision of decentralization and extra-territoriality that is in fact backed up by US might and force. The Network State is actually the US 'empire'.

Coupang is South Korea’s second-largest employer. But it says it can’t be held responsible for a data breach that affected two-thirds of the country’s population because, surprise, it’s an American company now. www.ft.com/content/04e5...

Was writing about it this morning for something that my colleagues and I are starting to work on about US-Korea tech geopolitics via organizations like Rockbridge network, VC connections, etc...

‘I don’t speak Korean’: New Coupang CEO’s baffling responses at data leak hearing spark anger Evasive responses by Coupang Korea CEO Harold Rogers to questions about Kim Bom-suk’s earned him ire from both sides of the aisle

And this was following from a fiasco in which they sent their newly appointed American CEO to the National Assembly where he basically upset everyone with his 'sorry I don't understand' answers to every question. english.hani.co.kr/arti/english...

Vance tells South Korea he hopes Coupang dispute can be resolved fairly, PM says Vice President JD Vance expressed hope that questions over U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, stemming from a mass data leak, could be resolved fairly to avoid tension, South Korean Prime Minister...

Even worse. They got JD Vance to bully the Prime Minister back in January. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Does Hegseth remind anyone else of Chet from the John Hughes (1985) film Weird Science, or is it just me? 💩

To read

Epstein Family Values • EQUATOR The billionaire patriarchs of the American far-right want to rule an economy of masters and servants

Fascinating, wide ranging piece by Melinda Cooper. Strongly recommend.
www.equator.org/articles/eps...

It was a really enjoyable read, Eli.

This too

Gril

1990s/early 2000s EPD was pretty rad though, wasn’t it?

In recent weeks, claims of a “productivity miracle” in some of the UK’s northern cities have sparked lively debate.

This new LPIP blog from Bec Riley digs into the data, challenges and highlights why success stories often overlook the complex realities.

https://ow.ly/qOkx50YenBU

Non-American here: I still can't tell you who played in the superbowl. But I do know all about the epic Bad Bunny performance. I think that is not a bad thing.

Lee Jae-myung pushes to split Finance Ministry’s budget powers Presidential front-runner Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea has proposed a large-scale restructuring of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, a

An older article, but good description of the rationale for Lee's state reorganization drive. You may have seen it in the news last week with the withdrawal of Conservative lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon due to abuse of power allegations.

File under: housing policy (or lack thereof?)

Adoption as banishment: Why Korea's adoptees deserve more than symbolic redress - The Korea Times The renewal of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for a third mandate on Jan. 29 offers a new opportunity to address the unresolved adop...

Important piece by my friend and colleague Anders Riel Muller.

Oops. Coupang autocorrected as company above. But still makes sense.

Coupang, South Korea’s Amazon, Is Copying Its Worst Habits The South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang has been engulfed by scandals over data breaches and dangerous work conditions. Having spent millions to lobby US politicians, the firm is now calling in t...

If you’ve been following the company fiasco: jacobin.com/2026/01/coup.... Jd vance recently involved in it: www.hani.co.kr/arti/english...

Looks good

Reviewer 2?

THE CONSTRUCTION STATE UNBOUND? Struggles over the Seoul Metropolitan Region’s Greenbelt in an Era of Planetary Urbanization This article builds on recent interventions into the study of planetary urbanization that call for greater interaction with the multiple social struggles and standpoints that embed this process. To d...

Nice to see that this is out in a print volume. Ironically, it comes just as the Ministry of Land, Housing, and Transport begins to consider lifting Greenbelt restrictions once again.