Big Take Asia

The gory, dystopian South Korean thriller Squid Game is the most popular series Netflix has ever released. This week, it drops season two — in the midst of the company’s efforts to grow the show beyond the screen.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Sohee Kim and Lucas Shaw about the new season, the story of how the show was nearly never made and all the ways Netflix is trying to expand Squid Game into a global franchise — from reality TV and video games to in-person fan experiences. 

Read more: ‘Squid Game’ Returns in Test of Netflix Global Marketing Muscle

Further listening: K-Pop’s Big Bet on Becoming Less Korean

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China’s property crisis has become a massive headache for the world’s second-largest economy. Tens of millions of newly built apartments lie vacant, home prices have tumbled and cash-strapped developers are struggling to finish construction.  

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Lulu Chen about what China is doing to try and solve its housing crisis. We go to Zhengzhou, home to the world’s biggest iPhone factory and the city where the housing market first imploded. It's now become a testing ground for government efforts to revive the ailing property sector. We look at whether they’re working, and what it will mean for China’s economy if the big push fails. 

Read more: China’s Housing Rescue Falls Short in City That Signaled the Crisis

Further listening: What Comes Next in China’s Property Crisis

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South Korea’s family-run conglomerates – or chaebols – have been big drivers of economic growth, and because of that they’ve largely been seen as untouchable. Until now. The chaebols are being challenged, at a time when the stakes have potentially never been higher, with the country mired in political turmoil. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg reporter Youkyung Lee about how a surprise takeover bid for one of the world’s biggest refined metal producers, Korea Zinc, is sending a chill through the chaebol world.

Read more: Powerful Families Who Dominate South Korea Face an Investor Revolt

Further listening: The Six Hours of Martial Law That Stunned South Korea

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In an address broadcast live on Tuesday night, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a move that shocked the nation – and the world. But within hours, after lawmakers unanimously rejected the move and protesters converged on parliament, Yoon went on live television again and backed down, promising to lift the emergency measure.

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with Bloomberg’s Sam Kim in Seoul to break down the stunning turn of events. They talk about what happened on the ground during the brief period of martial law, and what the political chaos means for an emerging democracy that remains a key military ally and trading partner of the US.

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India’s Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, was charged last week by US prosecutors over his alleged involvement in a $250 million bribery scheme. The indictment sent the stocks and bonds of Adani’s vast conglomerate tumbling and is the second governance crisis to hit the group in two years. 

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha and Bloomberg’s Menaka Doshi discuss what the charges mean for Adani’s empire and corporate India, and the implications for US-India relations.

Read more: Gautam Adani Bribery Charges Impact His Net Worth, Markets Beyond India

Further listening: $200 Billion, Four Heirs And One Mighty Empire

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Every year, billions of dollars of sanctioned Iranian oil finds its way to China, even though on paper the country hasn’t imported a single drop in more than two years. How? On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks to Bloomberg’s Serene Cheong on her team’s investigation into a clandestine shipping hub off the coast of Malaysia that funnels Iranian crude to China.

Read more: The Clandestine Oil Shipping Hub Funneling Iranian Crude to China

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Higher tariffs. Geopolitical flare-ups. Inflammatory comments. All across Asia, countries are bracing for the return of Donald Trump.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, we unpack what a second Trump term means for China, India and other Asian economies – who are the potential winners and losers and what’s ahead. Host K. Oanh Ha is joined by Daniel Ten Kate, Bloomberg’s executive editor for Asia economy and government, Chan Heng Chee, the ambassador-at-large with the Singapore Foreign Ministry, and Erin Murphy, deputy director of Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Read more: Trump Is Set to Elevate China Hawks, Deepening Beijing Rift

Further listening: The Economic Impact of Trump’s Promises

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A record number of Pakistanis are leaving at a rapid speed. Among them are some of the country’s top talent including doctors, engineers, accountants and managers. Over the last three years, one million skilled workers like them have left Pakistan.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Pakistan Bureau Chief Faseeh Mangi about what’s behind the severe brain drain in one of the world’s most populous nations, where the immigrants are going, and what it means for the country’s already fragile economy that depends on loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Read more: 

Pakistan’s Top Talent Is Leaving the Country in Record Numbers

Watch, from Bloomberg Originals:
What’s Driving Pakistan’s Middle Class Brain Drain?

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China is making steady progress in its quest to dominate key industries of the future, despite years of US tariffs, export controls and sanctions. 

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Rebecca Choong Wilkins about how the US is struggling to curb Beijing’s technological advances, and whether the upcoming election could change the dynamic.

Read more: US Efforts to Contain Xi’s Push for Tech Supremacy Are Faltering

Further listening:

• How China’s BYD Became King of the Affordable EV

• On Thursday, Odd Lots will dig into Bloomberg’s research on the Made in China plan, and why it largely succeeded in spite of US efforts. Subscribe here.

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Started as a battery company in the 1990s in Shenzhen, BYD is now one of the best-selling EV brands in the world. Once mocked by Elon Musk, the company’s startling growth made it a global player and has sparked tariffs in the US and EU.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Gabrielle Coppola and Danny Lee about the company’s aggressive expansion and what it means for the global auto market.

Read more: BYD Is Winning the Global Race to Make Cheaper EVs

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