Ambiguous Terms Like "Geumil," "Chaksoo," and "Mimangin" to Disappear from Gyeonggi Province's Official Documents

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Youngkyu] Gyeonggi Province has selected 114 ambiguous "public language" terms and will replace them with alternative expressions. Public language refers to language used by the government and public institutions, intended for society at large to see, hear, and read, and thus carries a public character.

On January 7, Gyeonggi Province announced that it had selected 114 public language terms to be improved this year as part of its "Korean Language Culture Promotion Project."

The public language terms selected for improvement were identified through a comprehensive analysis of various press releases, official documents, and policy terminology submitted by provincial officials.

The province has categorized the selected terms into "mandatory" and "recommended" improvements. For the 65 terms requiring mandatory improvement, the province will ensure that simplified alternatives are used in all official documents and autonomous regulations this year, and will recommend that public institutions and city and county governments do the same.

Representative examples of the terms to be improved and their simplified alternatives announced by the province include: ▲Geumhoe (this time) → ibeon (this time) ▲Chaksoo (commencement) → sijak (start) ▲Myeonggi (specify) → girok (record) ▲Byeolcheom (attachment) → butim (attachment) ▲Igil (the next day) → daeumnal (the next day) ▲Meeting → moim/hoeui (gathering/meeting) ▲Buyer → gumaeja/suipsang (buyer/importer) ▲Seonjingi gyeonhak (advanced site visit) → ususaryeji gyeonhak (visit to exemplary sites) ▲Mihonmo (unwed mother) → bihonmo (unmarried mother) ▲Mimangin (widow) → go amugae(ssi) ui buin (the wife of the late Mr./Ms. so-and-so), and others.

The selected terms and their alternatives will be included in the work manuals for provincial officials and will be prioritized for application to amendments identified through a comprehensive review of the province's autonomous regulations this year.

Jang Younggeun, Director of Culture, Sports and Tourism for the province, explained, "Although we have identified many other terms in need of simplification, there were limitations since many are already used in laws and regulations. This project was launched to help create an environment for desirable communication with the public by encouraging officials to take the lead in using clear and correct language."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.