One of the worst epithets that can be leveled at a politician these days is to call him a “redistributionist.” Yet 2013 marked one of the biggest redistributions in recent American history ― a redistribution upward, from average working people to the owners of America.The stock market ended 2013 at an all-time high ― giving stockholders their biggest annual gain in almost two decades. Most Americans didn’t share in those gains, however, because most people haven’t been able to save enough to inv

WASHINGTON ― Four years ago, al-Qaida appeared to have been destroyed in Iraq. Last week, fighters from the group captured Fallujah, a city where hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded in the last decade fighting the jihadists. How did this stunning reversal of fortune happen? Like everything else about Iraq, this is a tragic and confusing story. But two points seem clear: First, the Obama administration, in its rush to leave the country, allowed the sectarian Shiite government of Prime Mi

The storm clouds that have been hanging over the global economy in recent years are forecast to gradually recede in 2014, with growth prospects improving for the United States, European Union and the Asia Pacific. Economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to strengthen in 2014, supported by a rebound in East Asian exports, driven by an upturn in the U.S. and EU. However, the Asia-Pacific outlook is clouded by political risks which continue to create uncertainties in a number of coun

Can trade and commerce foster peace and mutual understanding between hostile governments? When it comes to the Koreas, this question may seem to be beside the point, given the ruthless purge now underway in the North. But it remains an essential consideration for the longer-term future of North Korea and other outcast regimes.The Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a joint venture of the North and South Korean governments, is both a tribute to the concept of diplomatic reconciliation through business a

One of the good things about the newly opened Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Sogyeok-dong, Seoul, is its “plain” entrances. I would call them plain because the front and side doors are not much different from those you pass through when you visit any downtown residential administration center or bureaucratic office. There is not even a revolving door. At its rear entrance, there is no gate or wall or anything that serves to delimit the MMCA compound from a small back alley of Bukchon.

The 10th anniversary has come ― again. Among the many issues on the national agenda in the new year is how to address the perennial problem of rice market opening. This issue was on the radar throughout last year, but apparently put under the rug with a policy of hush because of the political explosiveness. Now the moment of truth is coming up soon.Last time this issue erupted was in fall 2004, when Korea’s 10-year obligation to suspend opening the rice market (called tariffication) was coming t