The anti-quarantine protests that erupted across China last month highlight the gulf between the Chinese people and Communist Party leaders regarding the necessity of the strict zero-COVID policy. Given the obvious disconnect, it is worth examining how and why the authorities and the public have grown so far apart in their assessment of the policy’s costs and benefits. One important difference seems to be the value that the two sides assign to liberty. While the public may prioritize fre

A Seoul court on Wednesday denied an injunction request filed by the operator of cryptocurrency Wemix to block the enforcement of crypto exchanges' decision to delist the coin. In late November, the Digital Asset eXchange Association -- an alliance formed by Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax -- announced they will terminate transaction support to the cryptocurrency operated by online games company Wemade, from Dec. 8. They said Wemade had provided false information on the planned numb

Captain Son Heung-min and 22 other players from the 26-man squad, together with the coaching staff including the head coach Palo Bento, pose for a photo at Incheon International Airport, Wednesday evening, after returning from Qatar. At the ongoing World Cup in Qatar, South Korea reached the round of 16. (Lim Se-jun/The Korea Herald) Captain Song Heung-min, speaks during the welcoming ceremony held for South Korean World Cup players on Wednesday at Incheon International

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. “Gapjil” refers to an entity in a position of power abusing that power to bully, take advantage of, or basically make life miserable in an unjustifiable way for a person of inferior position. This could range from a high-ranking official unfairly taking away a subordinate’s privileges or a head of a company telling employees

이번 회에는 저희 책 Advanced Vocab에서 소개한 중상급 영단어들을 알려드립니다. 단어의 우리말 뜻을 기억하는 데에서 그치지 않고, 난이도 있는 단어를 실제로 활용하는 단계까지 나아가 보기 바랍니다. 〈 강하거나 많음을 표현하는 단어들〉 1. ample [ǽmpl] 충분한, 넉넉한 ‘있어야 할 만큼 충분하다’는 뜻인 sufficient에서 더 나아가 ‘초과로 충분하다’는 뜻을 지닌다. ample time, ample space, ample evidence, ample opportunity, ample portion처럼 다양하게 쓰인다. 특히 사람에 대해서는 ‘풍만한’이라는 뜻을 지녀, ample bosom은 ‘풍만한 가슴’이라는 의미다. In response to growing concerns among the public regarding the swine flu ep

After more than a decade of US policy focused on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, arms negotiations have been shoved off center stage. The long-running dispute over nuclear weapons has been displaced by a more immediate drama -- the rapidly spreading uprising against the Iranian regime. "Our focus every day, and the world's focus, is what's happening in the streets of Iran," Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said last week. "We support what Iranians a

These days, Korean pop culture, from K-pop, to K-film to K-food, enjoys fame and popularity all over the world. The Korean people are proud of the phenomenon and greatly elated when foreign columnists remark that the popularity of Korean pop culture seems to have replaced that of American and British pop culture, which enchanted the world in the past. Foreigners who live in South Korea also applaud K-medical service and K-speed. When you need medical treatment or even major surgery, you do not

Although it's a concept that cannot be easily explained, ‘jeong’ is a crucial aspect of Korean culture. A helpful way to picture jeong is to think of someone or something with whom/which you've been through good times and bad, that you never let go of despite the flaws. Your relationship supersedes your feelings or emotions and it can be for a person, animal, place, or possession. Jeong is not something that can be intentionally or deliberately established, rather it is dev

Beneath the still-gleaming white dome, the US Capitol’s new generation of promising leaders are jockeying for position, staking their turf, marking their hydrants and swapping last-minute promises for next year’s power. Today we will mainly be speaking to just one category of our promising new leaders: The ones who want the American populace to know how proud they will be to lead the party of law-and-order. These new congressional leaders are proud to give strong, steadfast support t

Poland is home to about 2.7 million refugees from Ukraine: 1.2 million arrived after 2014, and a further 1.5 million arrived following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. By comparison, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that Germany has taken in 1 million Ukrainians, the Czech Republic 464,000, and several other countries 200,000 or less. As of mid-October, some 4.7 million Ukrainians had registered for temporary protection outside their country. For their part, Ukrainian

Buddhism was introduced to Korea through two paths: the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje. In 372, the emperor of Former Qin, a Chinese dynasty, sent an envoy and monk to Goguryeo’s King Sosurim, with Buddhist statues and scriptures. Twelve years later in 384, the monk Marananta, born in Chota Lahore in north Pakistan, crossed the ocean to Baekje via Eastern Jin, another Chinese dynasty, to bring Buddhism to King Chimnyu of Baekje. It is said that when Marananta decided to lea

The video of "Chongqing Superman" has gone viral amidst the explosion of protests across China against the government's "zero COVID" policy. A man in a grey T-shirt with a Superman backpack stands on a street corner in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing, ranting against the soaring price of carrots -- and the government's failed strategy to totally eliminate COVID. He fiercely denounces the "lack of freedom and (the) poverty" that have resulted from