[KS] Romanization systems survey

[Brother Anthony]

Some members of this list have already received and very generously replied to the following questions, sent out by me as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Romanization of Korean, a committee recently established under the auspices of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness (PCNC). It seems to me that we need to hear as wide a range of opinions as possible before reaching any conclusions, especially concerning the relative merits of the MR and RR systems, and I would like to request replies from other list members who are involved in the romanization of Korean on a regular basis, in any capacity. We hope to hear from those who advocate the universal adoption of the Korean government's 2000 Revised Romanization as well as from those who prefer the MR system.

It would be helpful if you could post your replies to the following email: koreanromanization at gmail.com  and (PLEASE) NOT to the list, which has surely heard more than enough about this question!

Thank you for your help in this

Brother Anthony
Sogang University, Seoul


The questions

1. Which system for the romanization of Korean do you yourself at present mostly use? (If you use more than one, please indicate the relative degrees of use)
a) McCune-Reischauer
b) Korean Government 2000 RR
c) Yale system
d) Another (please specify)

2. Which existing romanization system do you consider to be best for general use? 
a) McCune-Reischauer
b) Korean Government 2000 RR
c) Yale system
d) Another (please specify)

3. What are the main reasons for your choice in question 2? (Please check not more than 3)
a) Is most effective as a guide to reasonably accurate pronunciation.
b) Is easily learned and used.
c) Provides romanized personal names, geographic names and product names that feel convincing and familiar.
d) Represents exactly the Korean spelling of words, allowing reconstruction of the original.
e) Is internationally recognized and widely used.
f) Is the official Korean government system.
g) Are there other reasons you want to indicate? (Please specify)

4. All other things being equal, which system would you hope to see the Korean government use and promote as the official system for the romanization of Korean in future? 
a) McCune-Reischauer
b) Korean Government 2000 RR
c) Yale system
d) Another (please specify)

5. Do you think it would be necessary to revise any aspect of the system you chose in question 4 in order to produce a truly effective system? (Please specify what those revisions would be.)

6. Are there any other comments about the romanization of Korean that you would like to make?