[KS] Corea vs. Korea

mson at ucla.edu mson at ucla.edu
Sun Oct 1 21:52:50 EDT 2006


Having only joined this list this past year, I don't know if this topic 
has already been addressed before.  But in any case, does anyone know 
definitively when and why the spelling of Corea was changed to Korea?

I ask this because having heard explanations casually tossed around 
about how the Japanese changed it so that Korea would come 
alphabetically after Japan, I've recently come across some written 
evidence that suggests this indeed may have been true.

In Yun Ch'iho's Diary, an entry in May 1896 describes his meeting with 
the Russian Emperor before his coronation as Czar.  Min Yong-hwan, 
curious about why the "Corean" embassy had the honor of being received 
before the Japanese is told that all the embassies were received in 
alphabetical order.  (See Kuksa py'onch'an wiwonhoe's edition of Yun 
Ch'iho Ilgi, Vol. 4, p. 195)

Considering Japans's contentious and competitive relationship with 
Russia in this era, it makes sense to me that this question of Korea's 
spelling might have originated in regard to Russia.  However, in this 
Diary, it is only years later, in December of 1898 that Yun Ch'iho 
inexplicably shifts from using "Corea" to "Korea" without any 
explanation.

If anyone has any further knowledge of this curious historical detail, 
I would greatly appreciate any information.

Yours,
Min Suh Son
Ph.D. Candidate, UCLA





More information about the Koreanstudies mailing list