Kang Man-soo
National Competitiveness Chairman |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The administration is working with foreign advisors and Korean language scholars to overhaul the official romanization system for Korean to make it easier for foreigners to understand, the head of a presidential council said Wednesday.
The current system, adopted under former President Kim Dae-jung in 2000, replaced the McCune-Reischauer (MR) system, which had been the romanization standard in Korea since its invention in 1937 by Americans George McCune and Edwin Reischauer.
``There have been a lot of complaints from foreigners that the current system is confusing and difficult to use,'' said Kang Man-soo, chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Competitiveness. ``We have to change the system before it is too late.''
Kang pointed out that his council and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have not made any decision yet on whether to revive the MR romanization system or give a minor facelift to the current one.
However, he indicated that the administration prefers the old method, saying, ``If we change romanization, it should be globally accepted and more convenient to use for foreigners.''
The MR system is widely used by many non-English-speaking countries in romanizing their own characters. North Korea uses it, also.
The same Korean characters are spelled differently under the MR system and the revised one. For example, the city of Busan is spelled ``Pusan'' under the MR system; Daejeon is ``Taejon,'' Dongdaemoon is ``Tongdaemun,'' and Gimpo is ``Kimpo.''
The name of famous Korean writer, Yi Mun-yol, is spelled differently in various English publications, due to the different romanization systems. His English name sometimes becomes Lee Mun-yeol, Lee Moon-yul or Lee Moon-yeol, according to the committee.
``South Korea is the only country that has a unique romanization system. But the problem is that it is confusing,'' said the former finance and economy minister.
Kang said the government will soon form an advisory group, including Korean language scholars and foreigners, and ask for help from language institutes to find the best alternative.
The biggest challenge is a lack of consensus between Korean scholars and foreign advisors.
Hangul scholars have claimed the MR system is inadequate for the ``globalization'' of the Korean language, while most foreigners prefer the old system over the current one, according to Chairman Kang.
``Foreigners expect Korea's romanization system to serve their needs first. They complain that Korean linguists `Koreanized' the romanization. Korean scholars, however, say the current one helps non-Koreans speak Korean words more like Koreans than did the MR system,'' a spokesman from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on condition of anonymity.
Chairman Kang believes all the confusion among foreigners about Korea's romanization system is not helpful for the country's global competitiveness.
``It is time to put this controversy to an end,'' Kang said.
After the government revised the romanization system in 2000, John Holstein, author of ``Guide to Romanizing Korea, the McCune-Reischauer System'' said, ``Since non-Koreans throughout the world almost exclusively support the MR system for the purpose of for which it was intended as do a majority of Koreans, this system will most likely continue to be widely used within Korea and outside.''
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
|
檢, 김효재 前수석 15일 오전 소환
