New york TImes Editoral on South Korea(NOV. 19, 2015)

South Koreans can be as proud of their country’s emergence from dictatorship into a vibrant democracy as they are of the rags-to-riches development that made their country a global industrial powerhouse. So it is alarming that President Park Geun-hye appears intent on backtracking on the democratic freedoms that have made South Korea as different from North Korea’s puppet regime as day is from night.

it is alarming ~ : ~가 까무러칠만한 일이다. ~기겁할 노릇이다.

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Rehabilitating her father’s image appears to be one motivation for making sure South Korea’s students learn a whitewashed version of their country’s history — especially the period when democratic freedoms were seen as an impediment to industrialization.

South Korea’s economy has been hit hard this year by an outbreak of MERS respiratory disease and a slowdown in demand from China and other Asian countries. The biggest risk to South Korea’s reputation abroad, however, is not economic but political, chiefly Ms. Park’s heavy-handed attempts to rewrite history and quash dissent.

heavy-handed: 강경한

using too much ​force in ​dealing with someone:The ​protestors ​accused the ​police of using heavy-handed ​tactics.
done in an ​unnecessarily ​forceful way without ​consideringthe ​feelings of ​others:Local ​people ​complained of the heavy-handed ​methods being used by the ​police.

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