President Lee, 5th-day briefings today… New York stock market, Nasdaq plunges to close [Morning Briefing]

◆President Lee holds 5th-day briefings today…targets: Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Defense Acquisition Program Administration

President Lee Jae-myung will receive briefings today, the 18th, from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The briefing targets are the Ministry of National Defense, the Military Manpower Administration, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and affiliated and related public institutions. The president's ministry-by-ministry briefings, which began on the 11th, mark the fifth day today. The content of the briefings is in principle broadcast live, but matters related to national security may be partially closed to the public. Before the briefings, the president will have lunch with ruling party lawmakers whose constituencies are Daejeon and South Chungcheong.

◆Impeachment ruling for Jo Ji-ho, accused of participating in martial law, to be handed down today

The Constitutional Court will open the ruling session for the impeachment case of Police Commissioner Jo Ji-ho today, the 18th, at 2 p.m. in the Grand Bench. If the Constitutional Court accepts the impeachment and issues a ruling of approval, Commissioner Jo will be dismissed. However, Commissioner Jo's side stated at the last hearing on the 10th of last month that "I have never been attached to the post" and that "even if the decision is to dismiss the case, I plan to resign immediately to cooperate with the new government's exercise of police personnel authority." Commissioner Jo was impeached by the National Assembly on December 12 last year on the grounds that he blocked members of the National Assembly from accessing the Assembly and deployed police to the National Election Commission and the Election Training Institute during the emergency martial law on December 3 last year. Commissioner Jo's side argues that, during the martial law, by allowing members of the National Assembly to be blocked from entering the Assembly and by otherwise showing insubordination or passive performance of duties, he actually contributed to the lifting of martial law.

◆New York market hit by 'Oracle shock'…Nasdaq plunges to close

While the three major U.S. stock indices fell together, tech stocks plunged. Oracle's large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data center project fell into a stalemate as key investors pulled out, and concerns over excessive AI infrastructure investment and profitability affected the market. On the New York Stock Exchange on the 17th Eastern Time, the Dow Jones 30 Industrial Average was down 0.47% from the previous close. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index fell 1.16%. The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 1.81%. The core investor, private credit firm Blue Owl Capital, had supported the 1-gigawatt-scale data center that Oracle is building in Michigan by adding tens of billions of dollars in debt financing to its own funds, but the deal fell apart as lenders demanded strict debt conditions for the data center. The data center is being built as Oracle signed an investment agreement worth $300 billion with OpenAI.

◆'Coupang hearing' without Kim Beom-seok

Coupang founder Kim Beom-seok, chairman of Coupang Inc., did not attend the hearing on the 17th by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee regarding Coupang's personal data leak. Choi Min-hee, the committee chair from the Democratic Party, criticized, "This can only be seen as an act of contempt for the National Assembly and the people of the Republic of Korea," and said, "We will hold them accountable to the end in accordance with law and procedure." Lawmakers also criticized the responses of foreign witnesses such as interim CEO Harold Rogers and Coupang Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Brett Mattis. Because communication in Korean was difficult, a significant portion of the question time was spent on interpretation or answers were repeatedly off-topic.

◆Mostly clear nationwide but fog on the morning commute in central regions…beware of icy roads

Thursday the 18th will be mostly clear nationwide, but thick fog will linger in some areas until the morning, so caution is required. Daytime temperatures will be 6–13°C, similar to normal. The Gyeonggi region, Gangwon region, and North Chungcheong region may see thick fog with visibility below 200 m. In particular, roads near rivers or lakes in inland areas may experience denser fog than surrounding areas. In inland Gyeonggi areas, icy roads and thin ice on roads may appear, so be careful when driving. Clouds will increase from the west at night, and about 1 mm of rain is expected in Ulleungdo and Dokdo in the Gyeongsang region. Rain is expected nationwide the day after tomorrow, on the 20th. Fine dust concentrations are expected to be 'Good' to 'Moderate' across all regions due to favorable atmospheric dispersion. However, Sejong, North Chungcheong, Ulsan, and North Gyeongsang may see 'Bad' levels until the morning, and Busan may see 'Bad' levels in the morning temporarily. Sea waves will be 0.5–2.0 m in the East Sea nearshore, 0.5–1.0 m in the West Sea nearshore, and 0.5–1.5 m in the South Sea nearshore. Wave heights in the outer seas (the outer sea within approximately 200 km from the coastline) are expected to be 0.5–2.5 m in the East Sea, 0.5–1.5 m in the West Sea, and 0.5–2.0 m in the South Sea.

Choi Su-jin, Hankyung.com reporter naive@hankyung.com