Romanization Of Korean (North)

Short description: Official Korean language romanization system in North Korea

Romanization of Korean is the official Korean-language romanization system in North Korea. Announced by the Sahoe Kwahagwŏn, it is an adaptation of the older McCune–Reischauer system, which it replaced in 1992,^[1]^[2] and it was updated in 2002^[2]^[3] and 2012.^[4]

Transcription rules

Vowels

Hangul	ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ	ㅐ	ㅒ	ㅔ	ㅖ	ㅚ	ㅟ	ㅢ	ㅘ	ㅝ	ㅙ	ㅞ
Romanization	a	ya	ŏ	yŏ	o	yo	u	yu	ŭ	i	ae	yae	e	ye	oi^{[lower-alpha 1]}	wi	ŭi	wa	wŏ	wae	we

Consonants

Hangul		ㄱ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅅ	ㅈ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ	ㄲ	ㄸ	ㅃ	ㅆ	ㅉ	ㅇ
Romanization	Initial	k	n	t	r	m	p	s	j	ch	kh	th	ph	h	kk	tt	pp	ss	jj	–
Romanization	Final	k	n	t	l	m	p	t	t	t	k	t	p	t	k	–	–	t	–	ng

In double consonants in the end of a word or before a consonant, only one of them is written:

닭섬 → Taksŏm
물곬 → Mulkol

However, in the case before a vowel, both consonants are written:

붉은바위 → Pulgŭnbawi
앉은바위 → Anjŭnbawi

The soft voiceless consonants between vowels ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ and those between resonant sounds and vowels are transcribed as g, d, and b.

Final consonants may undergo assimilation before resonants.

백마산 → Paengmasan
꽃마을 → KKonmaŭl
압록강 → Amrokgang

When lax consonants become tense in compound words, they are transcribed as tense consonants if they are preceded by a vowel. Also, if the next element begins with a resonant, then n is added before it.

기대산 → Kittaesan
새별읍 → Saeppyŏl-ŭp
뒤문 → Twinmun

The consonant clusters ㄴㄹ and ㄴㄴ are only transcribed as ll if they correspond with longstanding usage; ㄹㄹ does not have a special transcription.

천리마 → Chŏllima
한나산 → Hallasan
찔레골 → JJilregol

Double consonants may be capitalized as a single unit: kk → KK.

Guide

A personal name is written by family name first, followed by a space and the given name with the first letter capitalized. Also, each letter of a name of Chinese character origin is written separately. The given name's first initial is transcribed in a voiceless letter, even when it becomes resonant in pronunciation.

김꽃분이 → Kim KKotpuni
박동구 → Pak Tong Gu
안복철 → An Pok Chŏl

However, it is not really possible to follow this rule because a certain name written in hangul can be a native Korean name, or a Sino-Korean name, or even both. For example, 보람 can not only be a native Korean name,^[6] but can also be a Sino-Korean name (e.g. 寶濫).^[7] In some cases, parents intend a dual meaning: both the meaning from a native Korean word and the meaning from hanja.

A name for administrative units is hyphenated from the placename proper:

도 → -do
시 → -si
군 → -gun
면 → -myŏn

리 → -ri
동 → -dong
구 → -gu
구역 → -guyŏk

However, a name for geographic features and artificial structures is not hyphenated:

산 → san
거리 → gŏri
고개 → gogae
대 → dae

봉 → bong
교 → gyo
골 → gol
각 → gak

벌 → bŏl
관 → gwan
곶 → got
강 → gang

Sound changes are not transcribed in the suffixes above:

삿갓봉 → Satkatbong
압록강 → Amrokgang

Transcription of geographical names may be simplified by removing breves and by reducing initial double consonants to single consonants:

서포 → Sŏpho → Sopho
찔레골 → JJilregol → Jilregol

Notes

↑ The 1992 version used oe instead;^[1] Rodong Sinmun still uses oe as of 2022.^[5]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "Working Paper No. 46". https://unstats.un.org/Unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/6th-uncsgn-docs/WP/6th_uncsgn_WP46.pdf.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Updates to the report on the current status of United Nations romanization systems for geographical names". https://unstats.un.org/Unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/22-GEGN-Docs/wp/gegn22wp48.pdf. "In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea there is a national system adopted in 1992 and presented to the 17th session of UNGEGN in 1994, updated version was published in 2002²⁰."
↑ "E/CONF.94/INF.72 - Guideline for the Romanization of Korean". 2002-08-26. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.72.pdf.
↑ "E/CONF.101/CRP15 - The Rules of Latin Alphabetic Transcription of Korean Language". 2012-07-19. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/10th-uncsgn-docs/crp/E_Conf.101_CRP15_Rules of Latin Alphabetic Transcription of Korean.pdf.
↑ "Choe Ryong Hae Inspects Different Units of South Phyongan Province". Rodong Sinmun. 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
↑ "김보람(金보람)" (in ko). 한국법조인대관. 법률신문 (The Law Times). https://lawpeople.lawtimes.co.kr/lawman/10502/preview.
↑ "강보람(姜寶濫)" (in ko). 한국법조인대관. 법률신문 (The Law Times). https://lawpeople.lawtimes.co.kr/lawman/21732/preview.

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[6] The 1992 version used oe instead;^[1] Rodong Sinmun still uses oe as of 2022.^[5]

[1992version-1] 1.0 ^1.1 "Working Paper No. 46". https://unstats.un.org/Unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/6th-uncsgn-docs/WP/6th_uncsgn_WP46.pdf.

[UNGEGN2004-2] 2.0 ^2.1 "Updates to the report on the current status of United Nations romanization systems for geographical names". https://unstats.un.org/Unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/22-GEGN-Docs/wp/gegn22wp48.pdf. "In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea there is a national system adopted in 1992 and presented to the 17th session of UNGEGN in 1994, updated version was published in 2002²⁰."

[2002version-3] "E/CONF.94/INF.72 - Guideline for the Romanization of Korean". 2002-08-26. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.72.pdf.

[2012version-4] "E/CONF.101/CRP15 - The Rules of Latin Alphabetic Transcription of Korean Language". 2012-07-19. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/10th-uncsgn-docs/crp/E_Conf.101_CRP15_Rules of Latin Alphabetic Transcription of Korean.pdf.

[5] "Choe Ryong Hae Inspects Different Units of South Phyongan Province". Rodong Sinmun. 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-07-13.

[7] "김보람(金보람)" (in ko). 한국법조인대관. 법률신문 (The Law Times). https://lawpeople.lawtimes.co.kr/lawman/10502/preview.

[8] "강보람(姜寶濫)" (in ko). 한국법조인대관. 법률신문 (The Law Times). https://lawpeople.lawtimes.co.kr/lawman/21732/preview.