In Taiwan, 'Dizzy Ran' was chosen as the symbol of this year. Ran reranked first place in 12 years after 2008. Then, 'false yellow', 'anxious',' overcoming ',' surprise ',' to think ',' heat ',' It was in the order of 'Fool's Day', 'Hanhwan Hwan', and 'Lonely Go'. This year, the Taiwanese media said that the letters from the 1st to the 10th have been selected with negative meanings.
This year, there are massive demonstrations around the world, from Hong Kong to Lebanon, Iran and Chile. The protests that began in March against the extradition law (repatriation law) began last September, exceeding six months, and spread to large-scale protests involving 2 million citizens in June. The protests have expanded from a call for repeal of repatriation laws to a democratization movement aimed at freeing China from political interference. But the prolonged protests have shaken Hong Kong's economy, with GDP falling by 2% and retail sales expected to plummet 24%.

The Middle East is like a second spring. In Lebanon, anti-government protests continued on October 17 when the government charged fees for messaging apps such as WhatsApp to overcome the financial crisis. The prime minister withdrew from the app taxation scheme and withdrawal of the new government began, but protesters are demanding a cabinet of fresh figures, criticizing the economic crisis and corruption of vested politicians such as huge national debt and unemployment.

Iran's protests spread nationwide on November 15, raising gas prices by 50 percent without notice. International human rights groups have made observations that hundreds of deaths will occur after anti-government protests have begun, and the US government has announced that there will be more than 1,000 people. Iranian security officials say no official death toll from the protests.

Iraq also has a crush on 16 years of war and incompetent government. Anti-government protests continued in October, killing 450 people and wounding more than 20,000. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned, but the protests intensified by shootings.
Chile, a South American country, has been protesting for more than two months, triggered by a 50-won increase in subway fare in early October. The riots were triggered by rising train fare but reflect public anger over overall living costs and inequality. Indeed, Chile is the most inequality among OECD member countries.

In Bolivia, Aboriginal President Evo Morales announced his resignation on November 11 after three weeks of protests. Protests have resulted from suspicion of violations of election laws, but the fundamental problem in Bolivia is also the gap between the rich and the poor.

The protests that began in Ecuador in October were triggered by the end of decades of fuel subsidies. Concerns about abolition of subsidies led to a surge in gasoline, increased transportation and food costs, which led to anti-government protests and ended the government withdrawal.

In addition, large-scale protests in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Austria, France, and New Zealand have been on the streets of the world this year for large-scale protests calling for government response to climate change.

(Photo = Getty Images Korea)