The name "skin color," used frequently by students for describing a certain color found in paint or crayon, was the object of a lot of criticism. A group of foreign laborers and others said that it was problematic for being racist, and in 2002 the name was changed to "yeon ju hwang," meaning "light orange," but that was called a form of discrimination and civil rights abuse towards children for being a difficult word based on Chinese characters that was is hard for them to understand. The human rights commission suggested "apricot," a term without discriminatory connotations and that is easy to understand, because six elementary and middle school students filed a petition with the body and their bold and clever request was accepted.
Our society still has unclear expressions out of step with social changes, terms that are difficult to understand, and terms based in Japanese. The name of a color can cause different images to pop up in different people. The confusion and financial loss that occurs when colors named the same end up being different in actuality is significant for industries involved in stationery products, clothing, and household products. Language is a social contract. There exists a need to see whether there are more terms misused or overused that are from bygone eras and no longer hold meaning. Remnants of old must be corrected. It was a fresh approach when the six youths considered the issue from the perspective of civil rights.
The Hankyoreh, 22 May 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]