YONHAP NEWS

S. Korea to work on unified Romanization, promotion of its language

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will push to establish a unified system for the English spelling of Korean words and launch learner-friendly language institutions to enhance international recognition of its language, the culture ministry said Wednesday.

   In July 2000, the South Korean government announced a new system for the Romanization standard of Korean words, according to which the port city Pusan was written "Busan" and the ancient Kingdom of Koguryo as "Goguryeo."

   While local governmental organizations adopted the new standard, "Koguryo" and "Pusan" still remain as the international norms in many cases, mainly because South Korea failed to properly publicize and enforce the new system. Korean family names are also spelled differently with Yu frequently written as "Yoo" or "Ryu" by many people, creating confusion, especially on international documents.

   Many private organizations and individuals refused to change their English spelling and continued with the previous McCune-Reischauer system, an internationally-recognized academic standard.

   "We have long considered the need to unify the (Romanization) standard, a key issue in promoting the Korean language overseas," said Park Kwang-moo, head of the culture and arts bureau of the ministry, in a news briefing Wednesday. "The confusing system has been hindering smooth translation of Korean literary works and blocks active information and knowledge exchanges with other countries."

   Under the title "King Sejong Project," the culture ministry plans to work on establishing a sole Romanization system, publish an all-Korean dictionary for the younger generation and foreigners unfamiliar with Chinese letters, and unify the name of Korean language academies to "King Sejong Institute." The ministry reported the project to President Lee Myung-bak Wednesday.

   The government will conduct several nationwide surveys, public hearings and forums beginning this month through 2011 to gauge opinions on the current Romanization system, and finalize the decision by the end of 2011, Park said. The first of such government-organized forums will be held Thursday, attended by nine leading language scholars here.

   The government will also publish new dictionaries and revise the old ones to create a better "Korean learning environment" for foreigners and enhance recognition of its language. Some 20 dictionaries translating Korean to Vietnamese, Thai and other languages will be newly published.

   Under the plan to unify the educational service of Korean to foreigners, South Korea also plans to open an Internet homepage later this year, providing educational content in foreign languages such as Japanese, English, Chinese and Vietnamese.

   The existing language institutes will be advised to use the unified name "King Sejong Institute" by 2012 and recommend to students that they obtain qualifications through exams sponsored by the education and labor ministries. The government also plans to increase the number of Sejong Institutes in Asia to 60 from the current 17 by 2012.

   Largely due to the popularity of Korean pop culture in Asia, more than 6.15 million people from 133 countries are learning the Korean language through institutes or private tutors each year, according to state data.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)