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💣 South Korea: Successor for Martial-Law President

Estimated reading time: 4 min 45 sec

June 03, 2025

☕️ Good morning comrades!

Welcome to the second issue of asiabits. We’re toasting with Shanghai’s latest caffeine craze: a cappuccino served inside a real green bell pepper—for barely $1.30.

🔢 Facts & Figures

45,067

The number of vehicles Leapmotor delivered in May. A record and a 148 % jump YoY.

US$ 14,3 billion

The amount Chinese students spent on tuition, books and fees in the U.S. during the 2023/24 school year—more than any other nationality. 

US$ 38 billion

The market capitalization Beijing toy maker Pop Mart has reached, putting it on par with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty empire.

🚀 Benchmarks

Index

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52-W High

🇩🇪DAX

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24.325,97

🇺🇸NASDAQ

19.113,77

-0,32%

-1,00%

20.204,58

🇯🇵NIKKEI

37.157,98

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42.426,77

🇭🇰Hang Seng

23.157,98

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24.874,39

🇨🇳Shanghai

3.347,49

-0,47%

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3.674,40

🇰🇷KOSPI

2.698,98

-0,84%

+12,48%

2.896,43

Top Bit: 💣 South Korea Votes For Successor Of Martial-Law President

South Koreans head to an early presidential election today, choosing a successor to President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was permanently removed from office in April after declaring martial law last December. Polls put opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung well ahead. The winner takes office immediately and has just five weeks to decide on looming U.S. “reciprocal tariffs.”

Details

⏰ Tight deadline: A waiver on Donald Trump’s extra import duties expires 9 July 2025. Seoul needs a quick deal to protect car, steel and chip exports.

🗳️ Polling: Lee 49 % vs. Kim 35 %. Topping 50 % would give Lee extra political capital for rapid economic stimulus.

💹 Jittery markets: The KOSPI closed almost flat (-0.05 %) yesterday—chipmakers cushioned steel stocks hit by tariff talk.

Why it matters

  • Supply chains: Korea is a critical link for semiconductors, EV batteries and shipbuilding. New tariffs—or policy paralysis—could stall both Western and Chinese value chains.

  • Economic pivot: Lee proposes higher social spending and a won-backed stable-coin pilot; Kim favors tax cuts, baby-bonuses and a tougher stance on North Korea.

  • Geopolitics: A power shift may loosen Seoul’s tight alignment with Washington and tilt toward a more balanced U.S.–China stance—investors are watching.

Background

On 3 Dec 2024, Yoon sent troops to occupy parliament in a failed bid to impose martial law. Lawmakers impeached him the same day; the Constitutional Court upheld the removal in April 2025. Korea has been without an elected head of state ever since.

Further Reading: Reuters, Politico

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Head Of The Day

Jack Ma

The GOAT of Chinese e-commerce—once said, “Money doesn’t interest me.” We’ll see if a green-pepper latte does when we bump into him next time.

Market Bits: 🚗 Toyota to Take Toyota Industries Private (US $42 bn)

Details

🔄 Going-private: Toyota Motor, Akio Toyoda and allies plan a tender offer worth about ¥6 trillion (~US $42 bn), Nikkei reports. The board votes today.

⚖️ Governance boost: The buy-out untangles cross-shareholdings (Toyota owns 24 % of Industries, which holds 9 % of Toyota) and eases regulatory pressure.

💰 Funding mix: Up to 50 % via bank loans; the rest from Toyota Fudosan and the founding Toyoda family.

Why it matters

  • Would be Japan’s biggest go-private deal in years—a litmus test for Tokyo’s corporate-governance push.

  • Greater vertical control should help Toyota pay for its costly pivot to EVs and software-defined cars.

Further Reading: Reuters, Business Standard

Top Reads

🚲 Cheaper sodium batteries: E-scooter maker Yadea launches swappable, 15-minute-charge packs; CATL aims to scale the tech for trucks and cars by 2025—cutting costs and reliance on scarce minerals. More.

💻 Siemens hit by U.S. export ban: Washington blocks chip-design software (EDA) sales to China. Siemens EDA, Cadence and Synopsys (≈ 80 % market share) now need licenses; China accounts for ~11 % of Siemens revenue. More.

🍚 Japan is selling rice from its state reserves for the first time: shoppers queued for hours outside supermarkets as 5-kg bags cost roughly half the current market price. The government plans to release up to 90,000 t by July to curb rice inflation ahead of the elections. More.

Optional Reads

Squid Game: Trailer drops—final season premieres 27 June. More

Xu Qiliang: Former PLA vice-chair dies at 75. More

China’s energy transition: Gasoline and diesel demand forecast to fall faster in 2025. More

A 55-year-old paraglider accidentally rode a storm cloud to 8,000 m (26,000 ft). He blacked out, froze solid like a human popsicle (Wim Hof would be proud), and survived—only to receive a six-month flying ban for his troubles.

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See you tomorrow,

Thomas, Michael & the Team of asiabits.

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