Say "Gwon-tae Syndrome" Instead of "Bore Out"

'Hard Skills' Alternative Term Recommended as 'Job Skills'

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of the Korean Language recommended on the 9th that the term ‘bore out’ be replaced with the Korean term ‘gwon-tae jeung-ho-gun’ (권태 증후군, meaning boredom syndrome). Additionally, they suggested ‘jik-mu gi-sul’ (직무 기술) and ‘dae-in gwan-gye gi-sul’ (대인 관계 기술) as Korean alternatives for ‘hard skill’ and ‘soft skill,’ respectively.

‘Bore out’ refers to the phenomenon where work or daily life becomes excessively monotonous or boring, leading to lethargy. The selection of the alternative term ‘gwon-tae jeung-ho-gun’ was based on a survey. In a public acceptance survey of about 600 people, 95% responded that it was appropriate.

‘Hard skill’ means the professional knowledge or abilities required for business or organizational tasks such as production, marketing, finance, accounting, and human resources. ‘Soft skill’ refers to abilities such as problem-solving, communication, and cooperation that members of a company or organization possess. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of the Korean Language decided on the alternatives ‘jik-mu gi-sul’ and ‘dae-in gwan-gye gi-sul’ at the Sae-mal Meeting held from the 30th of last month to the 1st of this month.

The Sae-mal Meeting is a committee that provides Korean alternative terms easily understood by the general public before difficult foreign neologisms spread. Experts from various fields such as Korean language, foreign languages, education, public relations and publishing, information and communications, and journalism participate. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of the Korean Language plan to continuously promote the use of these alternatives, led by government ministries and media outlets.

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