[HERALD INTERVIEW]Lawmaker pushes for unified Romanization of Korean words

When the Chinese government claimed last year that the ancient Korean Goguryeo kingdom was part of its territory, Korea fought back to prove to the world that Goguryeo was its own. But the task was made more difficult since the dynasty was internationally known as "Koguryo," but none of the nation`s current documents spelled it that way.

In July 2000, the government announced a new system for the Romanization standard of Korean words, according to which the ancient kingdom was to be written "Goguryeo."

While all governmental organizations adopted the new standard, "Koguryo" still remains the international norm, mainly because the government failed to publicize and enforce the new system. Many private organizations and individuals refused to change their English spelling and continued with the previous McCune-Reischauer system, an internationally-recognized academic standard.

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The result: confusion not only overseas, but also domestically over Goguryeo and innumerable other names.

Acknowledging the need for a sole standard, Rep. Kim Choong-whan of the main opposition Grand National Party submitted a bill to set a unified system for the English spelling of Korean words.

This is the first time such bill has been submitted, and Kim obtained backing from nine other lawmakers and is determined to push it through during the National Assembly`s February extra session.

"In the international world, with all sorts of international contracts and exchanges, unifying the Romanization standard is crucial. I am actually very late in submitting the bill now. The law should have been set up years ago," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

He became more aware of the need for a single standard after the Dec. 26 tsunami tragedy,

"Since Koreans spell names (in English) so differently without any rules, the government had a hard time sorting out Korean names from the victims of the tragedy. This shows that the present situation is not only confusing but can also be dangerous."

People have to remember that to foreigners, changing one letter can make a totally different word, said Kim. "Imagine how confusing it would be for us if an American called Kennedy sometimes spells his name Kennedy and sometimes Kenady. We would think that they mean two different people, wouldn`t we?"

As Kim says, the differences in the Romanization of Korean words have confused foreigners.

The southern port city Busan is still written as "Pusan" in many cases. Incheon, site of the international airport, was previously Inchon and Gimpo, the domestic airport in Seoul, used to be Kimpo.

When it comes to Korean family names, Yu is frequently written as "Yoo" or "Ryu" by many people, creating confusion, especially in international documents.

Kim`s bill would make the government set a new English lettering standard after thorough research on how Korean words are currently Romanized.

"Because the government`s 2000 version was not mandatory, it became useless," said Kim. "Therefore, the new version should be set with the majority`s approval and the government should enforce the public to use it."





Kim asserted that the general names of cities, towns, regions and public organizations should follow the government`s new standard, but individuals and private organizations should be given more time - at least three to five years - in changing their names.

"If some persist on writing their names differently for an understandable reason, their claims should be accepted. But personally, I don`t see the reason to insist on keeping such and such spelling for the names when it is a process to help the whole nation," he added.

If the process is done hastily the cost would be substantial, but if the government gives people ample time to adjust to the changes, the expense would be a lot less, said Kim.

"For example, because the nation`s passport renewal period is five years, no extra charge will be needed if people changed their names on passports in time for renewal," he said.

Kim added that the government should concentrate on propagating the new standard to local people. "Informing foreigners can come after the nation firmly establishes the standard domestically first."

Kim emphasized that both government effort and public cooperation were needed in order for the nation to set a firm principle and become well adapted in the global world.

"Korea is only proving how underdeveloped it is by delaying the English lettering unification process," said Kim. "English has become more important than Chinese for a long time now. How come we are so strict about Chinese lettering and so generous when it comes to Romanization?"

Even if one has to go through some inconvenience, everyone has cooperate in the process both for individuals` and the whole nation`s benefit, he said.

(hayney@heraldm.com)



By Shin Hae-in