Romanization of Korean

Romanization of Korean is a method of transcribing the Korean language using the Roman alphabet to make Korean more accessible. 
The Korean government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced revised rules for the "Romanization of the Korean Language" on July 7, 2000. The rules are based on the Korean language's standard pronunciation and avoid using non-Roman symbols. 

The Romanization of Korean vowels are transcribed as follows

Table

단모음(Single Vowels)


Hangeul Romanization
ㅏ a
ㅓ eo
ㅗ o
ㅜ u
ㅡ eu
ㅣ i
ㅐ ae
ㅔ e
ㅚ oe
ㅟ wi
Table

이중모음(Diphthong)


Hangeul Romanization
ㅑ ya
ㅕ yeo
ㅛ yo
ㅠ yu
ㅒ yae
ㅖ ye
ㅘ wa
ㅙ wae
ㅝ wo
ㅞ we
ㅢ ui
Even though, the diphthong "ㅢ" is pronounced as 'ㅣ', it is written as 'ui'. For example, "광희" is romanized as 'Gwanghui," even though it is pronounced as "Gwanghi. Long vowels are not marked separately in Romanization.

The Romanization of Korean consonants are transcribed as follows. 

Table

파열음(Plosive consonants)

Hangeul Romanization
ㄱ g, k
ㄲ kk
ㅋ k
ㄷ d, t
ㄸ tt
ㅌ t
ㅂ b, p
ㅃ pp
ㅍ p
Table

파찰음(Affricate consonants)

Hangeul Romanization
ㅈ j
ㅉ jj
ㅊ ch

Table

마찰음(Fricative consonants)

Hangeul Romanization
ㅅ s
ㅆ ss
ㅎ h

Table

비음(Nasal consonants)

Hangeul Romanization
ㄴ n
ㅁ m
ㅇ ng

Table

유음(Liquids)

Hangeul Romanization
ㄹ r, l

The consonants "ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ" are romanized as "g, d, and b" before vowels and as "k, t, and p" before consonants or the end of a word. 'ㄹ' is written as "r" before vowels and "l" before consonants or the end of a word, but 'ㄹㄹ' is written as "ll". 
Table

For example

Hangeul Romanization
구(Number 9) Gu
더(More) Deo
바다(Sea) Bada
국(Soup) Guk
족(foot) Jok
밥(Rice) Bap
오리(Duck) Ori
라면(Instant noodle) Ramyeon
실(Thread) Sil
바늘(Needle) Baneul
울릉 (An island name of Korea) Ulleung
Table

Romanization of Korean reflects the result when a phonological change occurs.

For example, in the case of consonant assimilation(자음동화), '"종로" is written as "Jongno" instead of "Jongro" as the pronunciation of "종로" is "종노" by the consonant assimilation. Another example is "신라." It is romanized as "Silla," not "Sinra" as its pronunciation is "실라" and 'ㄹㄹ' is used as "ll" by the rule of Romanization.


In the case of palatalization(구개음화), the romanization is according to the resulting sound of the phonological change. For example, when palatalized, 굳이(Obstinately) is pronounced as 구지. Thus, the romanization of 굳이 becomes [Guji]. Another example is 같이(Together). It is pronounced as 가치. Therefore, its Romanization is [Gachi].


When batchim "ㅎ(or ㄶ, ㅀ)" is combined with consonants "ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅈ," they change to aspirated sounds as "ㅋ, ㅌ, and ㅊ" respectively. For example, "놓고" is pronounced as "노코", thus its Romanization becomes "noko". The same can be applied to "많다" and "낳지". Romanization of these words is "만타(manta)" and "나치(nachi)", respectively.


When ㅎ follows ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ in nouns, aspirated sounds are not reflected. For example, A harbor in South Korea, "묵호 is pronounced as "Muko," but it is romanized as "Mukho."


When there is a possibility of pronunciation confusion, or you don't want the pronunciation of syllables to be changed, then dashes between syllables can be used. For example, the romanization of 광안리(A beach in Busan, South Korea) is "Gwangalli." If you don't want the pronunciation to change due to phonological change, then you can put dashes between the syllables as "gwang(광)-an(안)-li(리)."


Names of people, companies, and organizations widely used before this revised Romanization version may be written as they were before, while new names must follow the new rules.