“恐韩症”一词源于媒体报道，指的是自1978年曼谷亚运会以来这32年的时间里，中国国家足球队未能在任何一场正式国际赛事中击败韩国队。在两队总共27场比赛中，中国队16次输掉比赛，11次打成平手。这个怪圈也成为了中国足球长久以来的一项心理魔咒。维基百科上甚至有专门的“恐韩症”词条。

与“恐韩症”相对应的“Koreaphobia”一词也是媒体所创造出来的。后缀“-phobia”作为一个独立的单词讲是“恐惧症”的意思。还有很多新闻报道提到“恐韩症”并不直译为“Koreaphobia”，而是采用多种多样的措辞。

2010年2月10日是所有关注热爱中国足球的人值得骄傲的一天。当晚在日本东京举行的东亚四强赛上，中国国家足球队凭借着于海、郜林和邓卓翔的进球，3-0完胜韩国，让持续32年的“恐韩症”成为历史。比赛结束后的第二天，《中国日报》以“National team overcomes decades of ROK hoodoo”为标题报道了这场赛事。“hoodoo”的意思是“不祥（的人或物)”，这个词常常出现在体育报道中。例如北京奥运会期间，一篇报道提到当时国内排名第一却屡屡惜败奥运赛场的中国射击男子手枪选手谭宗亮时，是这样措辞的：

Tan Zongliang is a veteran of the Chinese shooting team. He has been China's No. 1 in men's air rifle since Wang Yifu retired. His record in the Olympics is not so good although he has won a lot of international competitions. He took sixth place in the 1996 Olympics, eleventh in 2000, and ninth in 2004. He did not even make the final shoot-out, which can't be put down to a lack of ability. This year, competing at home, Tan Zongliang is expected to cast off his "Olympic hoodoo".

—— Excerpt from August 9: Seven gold medals

无独有偶，新华社的报道用“jinx”（ 不祥的人或事物；厄运）一词来表达国足32年来逢韩不胜的怪圈。原文如下：

It was the first victory in 32 years that China gained against South Korea in international matches. The long time jinx was often made into jokes by the Chinese fans to tease the scandal-plagued and ill-performed Chinese football.

—— Excerpt from China clinches 1st win over ROK in 32 years