[Start briefing] "You asked me to read Han River's work, but stalking and missionary work"...A 'criminal warning' in a reading group.

On Thursday, October 24th, the start briefing will begin.

First of all, it's the Seoul Shimbun.

Reading groups are popular as the trend of 'text hip' and 'Han River craze', which consider reading a wonderful act, are combined. However, he said, "Let's read the work of the Han River," and there are people who demand dating or propaganda, so we should be careful. Why are reading groups targeted? This is because it is difficult to identify because it is recruiting as an SNS platform based on anonymity and there are many one-time and short-term meetings. An office worker reported to the police when a reading group participant demanded dating and even followed the house. It is said that there was a meeting where the representative of the meeting tried to spread Shincheonji while promoting "healing and counseling". There are people who participate with inappropriate purposes that are not suitable for reading groups. Because identification is difficult, alternatives have also emerged to face-to-face meetings with high concerns about criminal exposure. It is said that online non-face-to-face reading groups are also being activated.

Next is the Dong-A Ilbo.

K-content, which Netflix invested a large amount of capital, is hitting the jackpot. However, drama producers and broadcasters are upset because of 'production cost inflation' from Netflix. The production company of the box office is also "to change to short form," so let's see what the situation is. The average production cost of Korean dramas 10 years ago was around 300 million won. Right now, it's up to 3 billion won. It's a 10-fold jump in 11 years. Domestic broadcasters and production companies are losing ground in the competition as production cost inflation begins with the emergence of global OTT with capital. The number of domestic drama productions was 141 in 2022, but it decreased to 123 last year. It is expected to be only 107 this year. In addition, Netflix produced the most dramas among domestic broadcasters and OTT. Because dramas cost so much, even famous production companies are turning to relatively less expensive entertainment or short form production. Some places have started restructuring their employees. Above all, the industry is raising its voice to avoid foreign companies and resolve regulatory reverse discrimination that applies to the Korean content industry. In addition, the newspaper also reports that while Netflix's role is respected, an approach is needed to increase the competitiveness of the weak domestic content industry ecosystem.

Next up is the Kookmin Ilbo.

Men, middle, and high school girls' high schools are gradually disappearing. This is because the school-age population has decreased sharply in the aftermath of low birth. A growing number of schools are switching to co-educational schools, saying, "We can't fill the quota with a single measure." This year, the school-age population is about 7.14 million. It's down more than two million from 10 years ago. As the number of students is directly reduced, more and more schools are choosing to "transition engineering." In the last five years, 83 schools have switched from single-sex schools to co-educational schools. There are also 32 places that are scheduled to be converted next year. In addition, the Office of Education is also encouraging the transition to co-educational schools in consideration of the convenience of commuting. Jangchung High School in Seoul, which is famous for baseball, has already changed from high school to engineering. The 94-year-old Seoul Dongdae Women's Middle School will also be converted to engineering starting next year. The aftermath of the ultra-low birth rate is leading to the problem of the existence of schools. There is opposition from alumni and parents, but it is analyzed that it is an inevitable choice to maintain the school.

Next, let's look at the Kyunghyang Shinmun.

A funeral will be held at Daegu University's Department of Sociology. It's not about people, but about the death of basic studies. The crisis of humanities and social studies is noticeable at local universities. The Department of Sociology at Daegu University, which has effectively gone through the pulmonary process due to the suspension of recruitment of new students. We have decided to hold an academic festival in the form of memorial next month. Daegu University is undergoing large-scale restructuring and is reorganizing to focus on practical studies. Not only the sociology department, but also the law department and the electrical and electrical engineering department will stop recruiting new students. It's not just Daegu University. In non-metropolitan universities, humanities and social studies departments are decreasing. The background is a decrease in the school-age population, concentration in the metropolitan area, and a decrease in student demand. The direction of government policy has also been affected. It is a disadvantageous policy for the humanities and social sciences to promote consolidation and integration by local universities and to give incentives to universities that increase the number of non-major selection. There are also concerns about the reality that the humanities and social sciences are being closed and disappearing. The newspaper notes that it can harm academic diversity and adversely affect the community ecosystem.

This is the last Chosun Ilbo.

"Ah~Part, Apartment" These days, if you don't know this song, you can hear the voice of a spy. It's "Apartment" sung by Blackpink member Rosé and American pop star Bruno Mars. The global attention is so hot that it exceeded 100 million views in five days after the music video was released. In the apartment, Korean culture, and subculture are all over the song. Rosé revealed that she was inspired by the song in her favorite drinking game, "The Apartment." Bruno Mars also sings "Cheers to the toast" while waving Korean flags in both hands in the music video. Songs and music videos that melted Korean subculture have put the whole world into apartment addiction. It topped the global and U.S. charts of Spotify, the world's largest music platform, four days after its release. Videos of imitating "Apattu" are being lined up from all over the world. Pop star Charlie Puth also posted a video of practicing pronunciation for "Attu." The song's popularity and interest extend to Korean alcohol and food culture. Also, singer Yoon Soo-il's song "Apartment" is being re-examined. "Congratulations on the reconstruction" and "Is this K Bruno Mars?" are receiving pleasant responses.

I looked at the newspaper on the morning of October 24.

This has been the start briefing.