Korean Language Policies Related with Chinese and Romanization

Abstract

This paper attempts to present the fundamental spirits of three Korean language policies that are related with the Chinese language. It points out that old Chinese flavor has been diluted in the Korean language in the past six decades while new Chinese flavor has been added to the language through the following policies: exclusively using Hangǔl, the Korean alphabet, in writing, reading Chinese proper names in Mandarin pronunciations, and changing the Chinese name of Seoul, from Hancheng to Shouer. It notes also that the Korean language policies have been moving toward recovering cultural identity and globalization since 1948. In addition, it suggests the direction how the Korean Romanization system should be revised as the Korean government is reviewing the current system.