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| Feet firmly planted amid breaking waves on the seashore, a fisherman powerfully flings his net into the waters in the early morning of Dec. 22 at Yeomjeon Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Against the rising golden sun, also being flung are perhaps the fisherman's hopes for a good catch in a full net. In Korea, they say, "To judge a man, look at his back." The stout silhouette of the fisherman seems to speak of layers of honest labor, wishes harbored and disappointments swallowed. Not to be deterred, the fisherman will return to his toil the following day, as too, so will we ― after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic ― to hold strong in 2022. Welcome to the New Year. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
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| The first sun of the New Year rises at Ganjeolgot Cape in the southeastern city of Ulsan where people watched the first sunrise on the Korean Peninsula, Jan. 1. Yonhap |
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| A visitor makes the sign of a heart with their fingers while watching the first sunrise of the New Year at Gyeongpo Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Jan. 1. Yonhap |
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| A man watches the birth of his granddaughter, the first baby born in Korea in 2022, online due to concerns over COVID-19, at a hospital in Gangnam District, Seoul, Jan. 1. Yonhap |
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| Fireworks are seen in night sky over Pyongyang as a part of a New Year ceremony that started from 11 p.m., Dec. 31, in this video grab from North Korea's official Korean Central Television, Jan. 1. Yonhap |
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| The sun rises behind a giant tiger installation at Gwangalli Beach, Busan, on New Year's Eve, as the year 2022, the "Year of the Black Tiger" in the Chinese zodiac, approaches. Yonhap |
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| People watch the last sunrise of 2021 at Jeongdongjin Beach, one of the popular sunrise spots, in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Dec. 31. Yonhap |
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| A "2022" sculpture is installed at Sokcho Beach, Gangwon Province, Dec. 31. Yonhap |
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| A medical worker walks past a wall, where people have posted messages of support for healthcare workers on the frontlines battling the COVID-19 pandemic, at Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu, Dec. 31. Yonhap |
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| Medical workers at the COVID-19 quarantine ward in the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Gyeonggi Province, hold hopeful messages for 2022 on small posters. Yonhap |
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