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| "Sungnyemun," the official English name of an important historical structure in Jung-gu, Seoul, is wrongly written in a street directory as "Sungryemun" (right). / Korea Times file |
By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo
After Seoul began a project to track down mistakes in English-language signs, numerous reports have been filed with The Korea Times.
A foreign reader crucially pointed out the confusion in the naming of Sungnyemun Gate, South Korea's No. 1 national treasure, on maps displayed at Hoehyeon station. One map shows "Sungryemun" while the other has "Sungnyemun." The correct name is Sungnyemun according to Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA)
"Although Seoul city manages the displays, they are made by a contractor, with the name of a certain place specifically given -- in this case by the CHA," said Oh Je-seong, head of the tourism business division of Seoul Metropolitan City. "It is probably a mistake made by the contractor."
Oh said the city is collecting reports of mistakes on signs from residents and has its own team on the lookout.
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"After we accumulate all the errors by October 4, we will fix the minor mistakes by the end of this year," Oh said. "However, larger errors that need to be fixed will probably need additional funding."
He said most of the project will be completed by the end of next year.
Reports can be made by email (pss@ktimes.com, ghdekadud@gmail.com or visitseoul1@seoul.go.kr) with a picture of the sign and details of its location.
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