“恐韓癥”一詞源于媒體報道，指的是自1978年曼谷亞運會以來這32年的時間里，中國國家足球隊未能在任何一場正式國際賽事中擊敗韓國隊。在兩隊總共27場比賽中，中國隊16次輸掉比賽，11次打成平手。這個怪圈也成為了中國足球長久以來的一項心理魔咒。維基百科上甚至有專門的“恐韓癥”詞條。

與“恐韓癥”相對應的“Koreaphobia”一詞也是媒體所創造出來的。后綴“-phobia”作為一個獨立的單詞講是“恐懼癥”的意思。還有很多新聞報道提到“恐韓癥”并不直譯為“Koreaphobia”，而是采用多種多樣的措辭。

2010年2月10日是所有關注熱愛中國足球的人值得驕傲的一天。當晚在日本東京舉行的東亞四強賽上，中國國家足球隊憑借著于海、郜林和鄧卓翔的進球，3-0完勝韓國，讓持續32年的“恐韓癥”成為歷史。比賽結束后的第二天，《中國日報》以“National team overcomes decades of ROK hoodoo”為標題報道了這場賽事。“hoodoo”的意思是“不祥（的人或物)”，這個詞常常出現在體育報道中。例如北京奧運會期間，一篇報道提到當時國內排名第一卻屢屢惜敗奧運賽場的中國射擊男子手槍選手譚宗亮時，是這樣措辭的：

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

無獨有偶，新華社的報道用“jinx”（ 不祥的人或事物；厄運）一詞來表達國足32年來逢韓不勝的怪圈。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