Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Foreign words dominate signboards, restaurant menus in Korea
Signboards of coffee shops and other stores are written in English in central Seoul in this photo taken on Oct. 9, 2022. Korea Times photo by Oh Se-woon
By Lee Hae-rin
A Seoul-based office worker surnamed Kim, 35, was perplexed at being unable to locate the Japanese restaurant he had reserved last week. The restaurant only had a signboard written in Japanese, which he was unable to read.
Kim said the name of the restaurant was spelled in Korean online. But the signboard was not.
"I had to call the restaurant after going around the block several times because I couldn’t find it on my own,” Kim said.
A Suwon resident surnamed Oh, 60, experienced similar trouble at a coffee shop in her neighborhood. All of the menu was written in English.
“For a moment, I thought, ‘Am I in Korea?’ I had no idea what they meant and had to wait for my daughter to arrive to understand what they sell and to make an order,” Oh said, pointing out that she had seen a growing number of coffee shops and restaurants in the newer and trendy districts with signboards written in foreign languages.
This growing use of foreign languages, which has drawn controversy in recent years, is drawing attention again ahead of Hangeul Day on Monday.
This undated photo shows a facade of a Japanese restaurant in Seoul's Mapo District that only features Japanese text. Screenshot from internet
Under the current law, the signboard Kim could not read is illegal.
The Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Management of Outdoor Advertisement and Promotion of Outdoor Advertisement Industry stipulates that the letters of advertisements shall, in principle, be written in the Korean alphabet in accordance with the Korean alphabet orthography, the rule of romanizing Korean words, and the rule of spelling foreign words in the Korean alphabet.
Advertisements, including signboards but not menus, that are written in foreign letters should “be spelled side by side with the Korean alphabet unless there is a compelling reason not to do so,” the law says.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Sunday, the signboards of 177 out of 278 stores in Seoul’s COEX Mall in Gangnam District were written only in foreign languages.
Only 29 had Korean spellings in relatively small sizes at the corner of signboards otherwise written in English. Only 63 stores had signboards signboards written only in Korean.
Another survey by a local civic group promoting the Korean language said that 23.5 percent, or 1,704 out of 7,252 stores in Seoul’s 12 districts, were in foreign languages in 2019. Only 15.2 percent, or 1,102 stores, had their names also written in Korean next to foreign text.
Despite its illegality, the law lacks clauses imposing fines, making it difficult to regulate violations.
The growing criticism has led to a legislation push to remedy the changing language culture.
Rep. Jo Myung-hee of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) proposed an amendment to the Framework Act on Korean Language in July, which obligates central and local governments to encourage food and beverage business owners to use signboards and menus written in Korean.
The amendment, co-submitted by nine other ruling lawmakers, aims to “spread Korean language culture and enhance people’s convenience” by indiscreet use of foreign languages, the proposal said.