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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">To:
Korean Studies Discussion List</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Subject:
[KS] Romanisation</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Dear List members, the questions how
to transmit Korean words with Latin letters arise from time to time presently
and it will surely constantly arise in future. I have been studying the
problems of transcription for more than 40 years. My system of Russian (Cyrillic)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US"> </span><span style="" lang="EN-US">transcription of Korean words has
been used in scholarly editions and cartography since 1970’s. For about 10
years I was an expert from the USSR when </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">the international project </span><span style="" lang="EN-US">“Transliteration of Korean
Characters into Latin” was been developed in ISO (TC 46 / SC 2). Even then the
South Korean side insisted on the system of transliteration, which was close to
the “New Romanization” of 2000. Representatives of other countries (North
Korea, China, France etc.) categorically objected. I have criticized the South
Korean “New Romanization” since the time when it was being developed by the
National Academy of the Korean Language. Per se it is <b style="">transliteration</b> with some elements of transcription </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">(e.g., such as <i style="">gachi</i> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">вм</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">. <i style="">gati</i>, <i style="">joko</i> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">вм</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">. <i style="">johgo</i>, <i style="">Dongnimmun</i><span style=""> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">вм</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">. <i style="">Dongripmun</i>,
a.o.) </span><span style="" lang="EN-US">and has little
difference from the system, which was used in South Korea since 1958. It helps
to restore the writing forms of Korean words in Hangeul, not their </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" lang="EN-US">pronunciation</span><span style="" lang="EN-US">. This system was done <b style="">mainly for Koreans</b> and was supposed to
be used <b style="">inside</b> the country. Because
of the globalization policy the South Korean authorities try to spread their “New
Romanization” world-wide <span style=""> </span>that is to make
it international.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">First of all a <b style="">consensus</b> among experts of Korean studies from all over the world is
necessary in this sphere,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">as it exists among Sinologists and Japanologists.
Up till now many scholars beyond Korea have continued using the traditional McCune-Reischauer
<b style="">transcription</b> system, which in spite
of some shortages more or less adequately transmits the sounds of Korean words.
A better system of “Romanization” of Korean language has not been created yet.
As any other practical transcription it is conditional. And it can be
comparatively easily used in computers. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">As a representative of the Korean
studies in Russia I can say that the “New Romanization” in practice greatly
hurts the mass-media in our country. The damage of this system in Russia is
much greater than in the countries, which use the Latin script. As common users
do not know the rules of transliteration they convey Koreans names from the
“Korean-Latin script” in the forms, which have nothing in common with their
real sounds (so called ‘phonetical<span style=""> </span>monsters’).
Therefore it is necessary to compile a dictionary of geographic names of contemporary
Korea with exact transmission from the “New Romanization” into Cyrillic and
traditional McCune – Reischauer system, compile tables of transliteration of
“Korean Latin” into Cyrillic to restore more or less the sounding of Korean
words, prepare the rules of bibliographic descriptions of Korean books in
catalogues etc. As a famous Russian linguist Lev Scherba wrote some 80 years
ago, “anarchy in transcription, as in orthography, is a small yet state-wide
disaster”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">To what extent we can yield to the
pressure and agree with what is been imposed on us? <span style=""> </span>I think that it is a fundamental issue and a
question of principle. For example, in the USSR State Standard (GOST) existed
and all the institutions and mass-media were obliged to use it. Now the world
is free and we can’t oblige anybody. The only thing that we can do is to
promote scholarly approach ourselves. It would be useful to publish both
systems (“New Romanization” and McCune – Reischauer system) in the Internet as
equal with the note that the first is mainly transliteral, and the second is
transcriptional. McCune – Reischauer system can be given in the simplified form
if diacritical marks are so complicated (although in modern computers it’s not
a problem). It must become the <b style="">broad</b>
transcriptional system for all users, and let “New Romanization” remain as
transliteral system for Koreans and people who know Korean. It’s important don’t
mix them. Personally I use any opportunity to advertise the principles of
correct transcription of Korean words, and by now have published it in Russian
Wikipedia, in the site of the Russian Association of University Korean Studies,
in five volumes of “The Korean Studies in Russia” almanac and some other
editions. Several times I spoke at different conferences and directly called
upon my Russian colleagues to pay special attention to the question of correct
transcription. I can’t say that I receive wide understanding. Transcription is
gradually becoming one of the most controversial topics here. “One man can't
win a war”, they say. Still I want to believe that persistent efforts give
results. Sometimes I receive calls from publishers, encyclopedia compilers, TV
program organizers etc., who ask me for consultation on transcription of Korean
words. I gladly help them. There are still people who try to do their work
well. The other thing we can do is to teach writing culture to our students, so
that in future they could propagate correct transcription to future generation.
Young Koreanologists should know that writing Korean names and words with
correct transcription is as important as orthographical writing in English or
Russian.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Lev Kontsevich</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Leading Researcher, </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Institute of Oriental Studies,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Russian Academy of Sciences</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Moscow</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-US">e-mail: <a href="mailto:lr.kontsevich@gmail.com">lr.kontsevich@gmail.com</a> </span></p>