More Korean men man up and become homemakers

...That, or the family has to pay for childcare, which is expensive and inaccessible to a lot of people. Kids need to be looked after while they're home, maybe even picked up from school...

All of these are good points, but I do want to point out that public  early-childcare in Korea is 100% government subsidized, and is available to all. All government run orinijibs and yuchigwans are free for Koreans (and now for non-Korean kids too, as of february 2023).

Korean parents often *choose* to enroll their kids in privately run daycares due to their perceived higher quality (which is often debatable). These are subsidized by the gov to some extent, but not free.

Why are the men staying home and wives out working?  Watch your wife lose respect for you over time.  I guess it may in a pragmatic sense depend on who makes more.  Men do more poorly in a corporate environment because we like to speak our mind more and not play it safe.  Plus many companies have stripped your decision making authority relying more on making jobs more repetitive and crude AI.  Many jobs more repetitive.  Makes women thrive more in this environment.  (Though there are exceptions many women are more cautious than men and also are more likely to cling to rules.)  The traditional men jobs got outsourced.  So, it may make more sense for men to stay home.  But long term most women won't respect you. 

Why are the men staying home and wives out working?  Watch your wife lose respect for you over time.  I guess it may in a pragmatic sense depend on who makes more.  Men do more poorly in a corporate environment because we like to speak our mind more and not play it safe.  Plus many companies have stripped your decision making authority relying more on making jobs more repetitive and crude AI.  Many jobs more repetitive.  Makes women thrive more in this environment.  (Though there are exceptions many women are more cautious than men and also are more likely to cling to rules.)  The traditional men jobs got outsourced.  So, it may make more sense for men to stay home.  But long term most women won't respect you.

Is that why you're single? Women don't respect you? Or they don't appreciate your overpowering masculinity?

Why are the men staying home and wives out working?

Because these days, women are more able to sustain professional careers and may be out-earning their spouses.

Watch your wife lose respect for you over time.

Why would one assume this? Do men lose respect for their wives if they're stay-at-home? In this day and age, taking care of children can be a valid occupation regardless of one's gender. "stay-at-home" shouldn't be conflated with "unemployed".

Makes women thrive more in [repetitive] environments.... The traditional male jobs got outsourced.

Two interesting assertations. Do you have any credible supporting sources that you can cite? I wouldn't mind reading more on the topic.

But long term most women won't respect you.

This was certainly true back in the day, but I think more and more people these days would disagree with this.

Two interesting assertations. Do you have any credible supporting sources that you can cite?

I think you already know the answer to this one.

Sometimes the best way to change a person's perspective on a topic is to have them examine the origin of their own.
And if they do dig up something interesting, then I'm genuinely happy to read it, so it's a win-win for me. 

have them examine the origin of their own.

 
 With some people I'd consider it a waste of time. But not 77.

All of these are good points, but I do want to point out that public  early-childcare in Korea is 100% government subsidized, and is available to all. All government run orinijibs and yuchigwans are free for Koreans (and now for non-Korean kids too, as of february 2023).

Korean parents often *choose* to enroll their kids in privately run daycares due to their perceived higher quality (which is often debatable). These are subsidized by the gov to some extent, but not free.

On the contrary, it wasn't completely free for us. We had to pay something like 40k to 80k a month depending on age. And it was like this at 2 different places in 2 different cities. I know, it's a pretty low amount. But not free. YMMV depending on the area you live.
Also, government run places don't have enough capacity for all children. In certain areas you have to get on the waiting list while pregnant! to have an available spot when the child is 2 or 3 years old.

For us, it just came into effect this month: as of March, the government will be subsidizing us in the same way it subsidizes most Korean families. Like you say, it very possibly might be a regional thing and ymmv. (I'm in Gyeongbukdo, and I've read that the same subsidies are now also being offered to foreigners in Gwangju also as of March.)

EDIT: Yes, just verified that whether or not you get the subsidy depends on which MOE you fall under.

Also, the subsidy doesn't cover some the additional opt-in fees like transport to their outings, entrance fees to the museums, parks etc, certain crafts supplies. I think most koreans still pay for that even if their tuition is covered. I'm not entirely sure how that goes, as our orinijib was kind enough to waive those additional fees when they found out we were paying full tuition out of our pockets. Come to think of it, I might need to talk to them about starting to charge us for that again: don't want to freeload!

I'll see if I can find something about this recent change in English. EDIT: http://danews.kr/m/page/view.php?no=7608

A lot of people DO want to stay at home. If their career is middling and they have the option of staying home and raising kids, they have no problem with it. But if they don't have that security, then it becomes a much more pragmatic decision.

For us, it just came into effect this month: as of March, the government will be subsidizing us in the same way it subsidizes most Korean families. Like you say, it very possibly might be a regional thing (I'm in gyeongbukdo) and ymmv.

Also, the subsidy doesn't cover some the additional opt-in fees like transport to their outings, entrance fees to the museums, parks etc, certain crafts supplies. I think most koreans still pay for that even if their tuition is covered. I'm not entirely sure how that goes, as our orinijib was kind enough to waive those additional fees when they found out we were paying full tuition out of our pockets. Come to think of it, I might need to talk to them about starting to charge us for that again: don't want to freeload!

Yeah, in our case that little monthly payment was for covering various outings and such. And also some extra classes that were not held by their own staff. Hence the tuition was less for younger aged kids and increased with age a bit. The little ones didn't have those extra classes.