On Wednesday, South Korea’s government institution, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism revealed their proposal to make sure that the Korean to English translations of the country’s cultural and natural sites will be consistent.
Non-Korean speaking expats and travelers are often confused by the names of places that are popular with tourists. Like most countries in Asia, South Korea has several palaces that have been turned into heritage sites. The country also has several mountains. What confuses foreigners is that in Korean, the names almost always include the term that describes the site or place.
For example, one of the top tourist destinations, Changdeokgung is one of the Five Grand Palaces of the Joseon Dynasty. The name is Changdeok and gung is added and when read as a whole, it means Changdeok Palace. But when translated into English, what they print out is Changdeokgung Palace, which basically makes the translation Changdeok Palace Palace. This type of translation is what’s confusing non-Korean visitors. The same is true with the mountains. Namsan is a mountain in Seoul and the location of the N Seoul Tower. Most of the signs say Namsan Mountain or Mount Namsan. However, the actual name is Nam, as “san” is the Korean word for mountain. Therefore the correct English translation would be Nam Mountain or Mount Nam.
During the briefing, the head of the department for Korean language policy, Gong Hyeong-sik said that the main rule of the proposal is to have unified translations. This means they will Romanize the name and then have a translation that refers to the type the site or locale.
With the proposal, the Romanization for Changdeok Palace would be Changdeokgung, which is the entire name of the site. The sign would then explain that “gung” is the word for palace. While other organizations wanted to drop the “gung” altogether and use Changdeok Palace to refer to the historical building and thus avoid the repetition, Mr. Gong said the it would not be wise to assume that most foreigners would know the Korean term for palace.
In the case of Mount Namsan, Mr. Gong said that its translation is confusing as well. Namsan (Mountain) is the term used by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, while the Korea Tourism Organization and the Cultural Heritage Administration use the term Namsan Mountain. On the other hand, it is referred to as Namsan (Mt) by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The Ministry said that the new proposal contains exceptions. Mr. Gong said that Romanization of the names of markets, parks and other places that are manmade and are not cultural heritage sites or natural sites would only affect their Korean names. So visitors could expect to see signs such as Gwangjang Market, rather than Gwangjangsijang, since “sijang” is the Korean term for market. The former Boramaegongwon Park will have a new sign that reads Boramae Park, since “gongwon” in English means “park.”
The Ministry said that it expects the policy to take effect this year and the concerned institutions must start changing their signs early next year.
Image Copyright: By Gina Smith / 123RF Stock Photo
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