Dear editor,
As a specialist in Korean Buddhism who has been a staunch supporter of efforts to establish a solid, non-diacritical romanization system for rendering hangeul, it was with great disappointment that I read the June 25 article, entitled ``Revamping `Hangeul' Romanization Proposed."
It is clear that there is nothing technically ``superior" about McCune Reischauer (MR) over the Ministry of Culture's system. It is just a matter of stubbornness on the part of foreigners who do not want to get used to writing in a new system.
An analogous situation existed when the China made the move to replace Wade-Giles with Pinyin. But in that case, the Chinese government paid no heed to the complaints of Westerners and stuck to their system.
I was asked, in the late 90s and early 2000s, by people connected with the promulgation of the new system in Korea to adopt it in my academic articles and in my online lexicons (at www.buddhism-dict.net, which are now standard references in the field of East Asian Studies, subscribed to by more than 25 of the leading academic institutions in the West).
In the face of much opposition, I gave my full support, and have continued to do so, for almost a decade.
I can only say to Kang Man-soo, chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Competitiveness, and officials at the Ministry of Culture: If you cave in to pressure now, and abandon your efforts to establish this new system, don't ever bother coming to ask for my support in the future.
A. Charles Muller
University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan