[Editorial] Re-Joining the Korean Language

The division of North and South Korea divided the Korean language. The sixtieth anniversary of Liberation means the language has been divided for sixty years. One of the unfortunate aspects of the long separation has been deepening differences in language use. When language changes in different directions it reduces the possibility of building "one community."

It is therefore very significant that the "Intra-Korean Joint Committee on the Large Korean Dictionary" decided on a five-point outline for lexicographic research on the final day of the Liberation festivities. One notices the committee's strong resolve in making progress; it was only formed six months ago, in February, and has already decided on a course of action.

Now the real work begins. The committee needs to eradicate the deep differences of usage and unify the language by choosing one word when there are different ones and agreeing on definitions for the words that are to be included. The task will not be easy. Prescriptive language norms are a principle, and actually choosing one way over another is difficult. For example, the South places more importance on overall pronunciation, whereas the North give priority to morphology. For the South it will be hard to give up du'um beopchik, sometimes called the "initial law," and saisiot, sometimes called the "middle" siot. The North will find it hard to give up on its principle of one syllable for one sound. A subcommittee has been created just for standardizing the principles, and one hopes to see it make progress.

Everyone says that Korean in North and South has changed a great deal, but it's still more than 90 percent the same. The determination of the joint lexicographical committee is strong. Its decision to choose the vocabulary to be included first, aside from the work of standardizing the rules, is a reflection of that. Now what is needed is support from the people and from the government. The committee is a private organization. In the South the work is being done by the Mun Ik Hwan Commemorative Committee, which is both financially and politically weak. Overcoming that and thereby joining the Korean language, the basis of the community of the Korean people which has been damaged, can only be accomplished with popular support.

The Hankyoreh, 18 August 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]