The COVID-19 pandemic continued to dominate news in 2021, impacting all areas of life from the economy to politics. Hopes of vaccines ending the pandemic were quashed, and daily caseloads around the world soared to new highs.

The year also saw an unexpected wave of Korean popular culture, surges in stock markets, deaths of old dictators and rise of new, and intensifying rivalries on the global stage.

Here are The Korea Herald’s top 10 international and domestic news stories of the year.