Gyeonggi Province to Revise Difficult or Improper Local Regulations and Project Names

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Youngkyu] In celebration of King Sejong's birthday on May 15, Gyeonggi Province will launch the "Korean Language Culture Promotion Project," which aims to revise local regulations and project names into language that is easier for residents to understand.

This is the first time that a metropolitan local government in Korea is undertaking a comprehensive revision of both local regulations and project names at once.

The terms targeted for revision are those used in local regulations that residents may find difficult to understand, such as complex Sino-Korean words, foreign words, or expressions influenced by Japanese.

For example, the word "jecheok" will be changed to "jeoe" (meaning "exclusion"), and "gaeuiahda" will be changed to "start a meeting." Discriminatory expressions and terms that violate language norms will also be revised.

Additionally, before finalizing ordinances proposed by the province, Gyeonggi Province will require a preliminary review by the Hanyang University Korean Language Culture Center, the region's main Korean language institution, to ensure the use of proper public language.

The province will also standardize project names.

This measure is in response to frequent complaints that residents have been confused by the use of ambiguous abbreviations or foreign characters in project names.

Therefore, starting next year, the province plans to use revised project names in plain Korean so that the nature of each project can be easily understood just by its name.

To implement this initiative, the province will first apply the "Gyeonggi Province Public Language Alternatives 114," which was announced last year, as the main reference for revisions.

The province has identified 114 public terms in four categories-Japanese-influenced expressions, complex Sino-Korean words, foreign and loanwords, and discriminatory language-that require improvement, and is recommending the use of alternative expressions.

Furthermore, Gyeonggi Province will use the results of this revision of local regulations and project names to produce public service advertisements and audiovisual promotions that are engaging and easy for viewers to understand, as part of efforts to improve language culture.

Jang Younggeun, Director of Culture, Sports, and Tourism for the province, stated, "We plan to enhance communication with residents by using proper and easy public language," and emphasized, "We will establish a sustainable language review system to build a foundation for correct public language."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province has continuously promoted Korean language projects centered on public language, and in 2019 was selected as the top institution in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's nationwide evaluation of best practices among metropolitan local governments.

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