The free-trade agreement being negotiated by the U.S. and 11 other nations is considered the economic keystone of the Barack Obama administration’s much-vaunted “pivot” to Asia. If successful, the Trans-Pacific Partnership will liberalize a $2 trillion market, reinforce U.S. standing as the lead promoter of “21st century” trade practices, and revolutionize economic relations between the U.S. and its most important ally in the region, Japan.Given the complexities of negotiations involving economi

Viewpoints Dec. 18, 2013

By now, young adults have heard that they are key to making Obamacare work, and the Obama administration has spent ample resources trying to convince them that the law is a good deal for them.But they don’t seem to be buying in. A new Harvard poll shows that 57 percent of young adults polled disapprove of the health care law. And with good reason: The law will impact young adults’ wallets far more negatively than those of older adults in two big ways.1. Higher premiums. First, it’s the Obamacare

Viewpoints Dec. 18, 2013

As in previous years, lawmakers deliberating the government’s budget proposal are keen to secure state funding for their districts, a practice called pork-barreling. Their enthusiasm appears to be stronger than usual due to the local elections slated for next year.As a result, all 12 of the Assembly’s 16 standing committees that have finished deliberations approved a budget increase. The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee had the biggest rise in requested funding, at 2.3 trillion won,

Editorial Dec. 17, 2013

The rail workers’ strike has entered its 10th day and still shows no sign of letup. The walkout, the longest ever of its kind, is already taking a heavy toll on passengers and industries that depend on rail transport. The government is stepping up pressure on the striking workers of Korea Railroad Corp. to end their illegal action. Prosecutors are tracking down the 10 union leaders for whom the court has approved arrest warrants.They applied for the warrants after President Park Geun-hye denounc

Editorial Dec. 17, 2013

DUBAI ― Is President Obama an American version of Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader whose well-intentioned reforms led to the demise of his country’s global power? That’s the anxiety a traveler hears these days from worried U.S. allies, and it’s mirrored in a provocative article published recently. This concern about erosion of American power is powerfully stated in “The End of History Ends” by Walter Russell Mead in The American Interest. Mead warns that Obama’s attempts to disengage from the over-

Viewpoints Dec. 17, 2013

Every time you pull out your smartphone in public, you’re making yourself a target.The mobile gadgets are easy to spot, easy to steal and fetch hundreds of dollars quickly on the black market.Protect Your Bubble, a company that sells insurance for personal electronics, says 113 smartphones are stolen every minute in the U.S. In New York, those thefts account for 14 percent of all crime.Cops have a name for it ― Apple picking ― but the iPhone maker is actually out front in the effort to curb gadg

Viewpoints Dec. 17, 2013

Enthusiasm for a big increase in the federal minimum wage is building in the U.S. It’s a shame to see so much energy devoted to a policy that’s not only dubious but also sidelines better ideas.In his State of the Union address in February, President Barack Obama called for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour from $7.25. Recently he said he supports a measure that would raise it in stages to a little more than $10. State and local governments across the country have been going a

Viewpoints Dec. 17, 2013

Just when it seemed Hu Jintao’s record as China’s president couldn’t look any worse, Kim Jong-un adds another black mark to his legacy.Last week’s dramatic execution of Kim’s uncle and No. 2 ― the China-friendly Jang Song-thaek ― has many people looking to see how Beijing reacts. China is Kim’s main benefactor and, despite protestations to the contrary, the only government with real leverage over North Korea’s leader. In the weeks to come, current President Xi Jinping should do all he can to wie

Viewpoints Dec. 17, 2013

Chinese President Xi Jinping must have felt pretty pleased with himself earlier this year, after he dispatched rival and former Politburo member Bo Xilai in a dramatic, humiliating show trial. When it comes to staging purges, though, North Korea’s brash young leader Kim Jong-un has him beat.Kim didn’t just arrest his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, the second-most powerful man in the country. The boy-dictator appears to have had Jang brought out of seclusion in order to arrest him again at a televised l

Viewpoints Dec. 16, 2013

There are over 6,000 international organizations around the world and all of them need a place in which they can set up camp and carry out their mission. Recently the headquarters of the Green Climate Fund, located in Songdo, the new city that is forming near Incheon, was opened to much fanfare with many dignitaries present including President Park Geun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-Seok and even World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. The United States is home to 3,646 international organ

Viewpoints Dec. 16, 2013

What does Alan Greenspan have to do with rallies in Indian stocks, hopes for a resurgent Japan and the blind faith that China can grow at a rate of 7 percent forever? More than you’d think.Call it the Greenspanization of Asia. The former chairman’s tenure at the Federal Reserve, from 1987 to 2006, established a new political compact of sorts, whereby governments abdicated responsibilities to unelected central bankers. The “Greenspan put” that flooded markets with cash whenever things got dicey h

Viewpoints Dec. 16, 2013