As the editor of an English-language magazine and books produced in and about Korea, it has been my own policy up to
now largely to follow the McCune-Reischauer system of romanization (the internationally accepted academic standard)
with some exceptions, mainly when the actual pronunciation of certain words differs from the MR system (thus, the first "ㄷ"
in "Dongdaemun" sounds closer to a "d" in English because of the following "o" vowel, while the "ㄷ" in "tabang" or tearoom
sounds closer to a "t" because of the following "a" vowel.
That having been said, it has recently come to my attention that a certain conservative member of the National Assembly,
Rep. Kim Choong-whan of the Grand National Party, has recently introduced a bill which would mandate a unified system
for the English spelling of Korean words, including the personal names of individual Korean citizens. After a period of
review, the Korean government would establish and enforce a unified system for the English spelling of Korean words.
As a legal regulation, all would have to follow the new system of romanization, presumably upon threat of fines and/or other
penalties. For a recent story on the subject, see the following link:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/02/21/200502210008.asp
In 2000, the South Korean government introduced a revised romanization system for Korean, in which "Pusan" became
"Busan" and "Kwangju" became "Gwangju" and so on and so forth. For a look at this official new romanization system,
here's another link, courtesy of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea:
http://www.mct.go.kr:8080/english/K_about/Language04.html
Even a cursory look at the Korean government's revised romanization system will alert the interested reader to a rather
glaring inconsistency, to wit: Since it is commonly accepted that the name "Korea" derives from the name of the old Korean
kingdom of 고려 or Koryo (918-1392), which is spelled as "Goryeo" according to the new official system, it logically follows
that the English name of Korea sould be revised to reflect the new system and thus be spelled "Gorea." Naturally,
it behooves the Korean government (henceforth referred to as "Gorea" in faithful accordance to official romanization) and
all its ministries and other publically financed public bodies and organizations to revise and update the spelling of their names
in English as soon as possible, lest they be accused of not practicing what they preach. For this reason, I submit to Rep.
Kim Choong-whan that the following stipulations be added to his bill before it it too late:
1. All top national Gorean governmental bodies and their official names should drop all spellings of the word "Korea" or "Korean"
in them and be replaced with "Gorea" or "Gorean." Thus, the "Republic of Korea" or "ROK" would become the "Republic of
Gorea" or the "ROG." President Roh Moo-hyun would henceforth be referred to as the "President of South Gorea." Failure of the
foreign press and other parties to observe this legally mandated official spelling in any instance would result in their being
fined and punished accordingly, pace Rep. Kim Choong-whan's recently submitted bill.
2. All Gorean ministries also be encouraged to modify and update the English renderings of their names at the earliest possible
convenience. Thus, the "Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism" would become the "Gorean Ministry of Culture and
Tourism" and the "Korean Ministry of Gender Equality" would become the "Gorean Ministry of Gender Equality." Related
agencies such as the "Korea National Tourism Organization" or the "KNTO" would become the "Gorea National Tourism
Association" or "GNTO," and so on and so forth.
3. The nation's central bank, previously known as "The Bank of Korea," shall immediately be renamed and referred to far
more elegantly and simply as "The BOG."
4. All Gorean embassies and consulates abroad must also change their names immediately so as to encourage by example
the official standardization of Gorean romanization promulgated by Rep. Kim Choong-whan, the Gorean Ministry of Culture
and Tourism, et al. Foreigners around the world should know that the Gorean government is very serious about this
and that the sensitive subject of standardized romanization of Gorean should not be taken lightly. Where applicable,
international courts of law may be appealed to to enforce fines over local violations of the new Gorean romanization
system.
5. All official and governmental Gorean Web sites immediately change their domain addresses from ".co.kr" to ".co.gr."
All signs, letterheads, official publications, namecards and so on and so forth must also be modified to reflect the
new system. For this purpose, appropriation of several trillion won will be required immediately, but this can easily
be offset by massively increased revenue from fines of romanization violations (both domestically and abroad) once Rep.
Kim Choong-whan's new law takes effect.
6. All Gorean colleges and universities which receive any sort or form of subsidies from the South Gorean government must
also modify their names immediately, so that "Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology" or "KAIST"
becomes "Gorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology" or "GAIST," and "Korea University" becomes "Gorea
University." Thus, an example will be set for all Gorean students at such institutions, for they are the leaders of the future
Gorea! All related Web sites, periodicals, signs and so on and so forth must also be updated accordingly.
7. The ROG's flagship air carrier, hitherto known as "Korean Air" or "KAL" for short, shall now be referred to as "GAL,"
effective immediately, which is entirely fitting and appropriate because as everyone knows, GAL's flight attendants are
all lovely gals indeed!
8. Rep. Kim Choong-whan himself be encouraged to lead by example by modifying his own name in accordance with the
new official romanization system, so that his name becomes Rep. Gim Chung-hwan. Failure to do so will result in applicable
fines and other penalties as detailed in his own bill.
Once again, the editor thanks Rep. Gim (nee Rep. Kim) for his most excellent proposal, which has inspired my own modest
proposal, I mean "broposal," here. Thanks as well to the Gorea Herald for its very informative article on the matter. Manse Gorea! |
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A Modest Broposal (On a Standardized Romanization of "Gorean") 
[re] A Modest Broposal 
