The Economist:

Office workers around Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul breathed a collective sigh of relief just before Christmas.

Ever since Park Geun-hye, a former president, was sent to prison for corruption and abuse of power in 2017 her supporters had been staging noisy protests in the middle of South Korea’s capital, calling for her release.

Even after mass rallies were banned in a bid to stem the spread of covid-19, lone protesters with megaphones or speakers mounted on vans continued to make the rounds of the square.

Now silence prevails. On December 24th Moon Jae-in, Ms Park’s successor as president, announced he would pardon her and set her free on New Year’s Eve.

生词短语：

breathe

呼出；吐出

collective

集体的

sigh of relief

如释重负的一口气

corruption

贪污

a buse of power

滥用权力

stage

组织

mass rally

群众集会

in a bid to

为了

stem

阻止；遏制

megaphone

扩音器

make the rounds

四处扩散

prevail

占上风；盛行

pardon

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