Trump says the Iran war ends "soon." South Korea is quietly drawing back investors. And nobody—and I mean *nobody*—is reacting like a geopolitical knife is still hovering over the Middle East.

This is the story that matters right now. The ceasefire in Lebanon is real. Trump's deal signals are real. But the underlying machinery of conflict hasn't stopped—it's just been given permission to pause. Iran's proxy networks are still intact. Israeli air capabilities are still staged. US military positioning hasn't fundamentally changed. What's shifted is *narrative permission*: the market has been told it's okay to stop watching the door.

That's not de-escalation. That's amnesia with a timeout. South Korea—a nation whose entire economic model depends on uninterrupted supply chains—is acting rationally. The market isn't. This is the same market that dismissed the Houthi Red Sea attacks for weeks. Everyone's priced in peace. Peace isn't here.