Seo Kyungduck Launches Campaign for Correcting Hangul Errors and Promoting Plant Sovereignty on King Sejong's Birthday

Reports of Korean Script Errors at Major Overseas Locations Accepted
Plan to Collect Netizen Reports Until Hangul Day and Request Corrections
PD Youngsuk Na Participates as Korean Narrator

Professor Kyungduck Seo of Sungshin Women's University is launching a global campaign to correct errors in Korean script at major locations around the world, in commemoration of King Sejong's Birthday on May 15. On May 14, Professor Seo announced on his social media that “there are many errors in Korean script at major locations worldwide, and I intend to initiate a global campaign with netizens to correct them.”

Korean text errors at Saipan Airport (left) and Ulaanbaatar Airport in Mongolia (right). Seo Kyungduk SNS

He specifically requested that people report any incorrect Korean text found at airports, tourist attractions, museums, or art galleries. Examples released by Professor Seo include “농산물 검역 검사” (“Agricultural Product Quarantine Inspection”) at Saipan Airport being incorrectly written as “농업 격리 검사” (“Agricultural Isolation Inspection”), and “만남의 장소” (“Meeting Place”) at Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar Airport being mislabeled as “미팅 포인트” (“Meeting Point”).

Furthermore, Professor Seo stated, “After collecting reports until Hangul Day, we plan to contact the relevant institutions and ensure they are changed to the correct Korean script.” He also asked for reports of places where Korean script is missing. He added, “With K-pop, K-dramas, and K-food drawing global attention as representative Korean content, now is the perfect time to globalize Hangul and the Korean language.” He continued, “If we establish correct Korean script at key locations worldwide, it will foster a positive impression among people everywhere.”

Additionally, on the 15th, Professor Seo's team released a multilingual video with PD Youngsuk Na, highlighting the botanists of the Joseon Dynasty who helped preserve the Korean language. The four-minute video, produced in both Korean and English, was co-created by Professor Seo and the Korea National Arboretum under the Korea Forest Service, with Youngsuk Na providing Korean narration.

Professor Sung-kyung Seo (left), who planned the video, and PD Young-seok Na, who did the narration. Sung-kyung Seo SNS

The video introduces the history of how, during the Japanese colonial period, plants on the Korean Peninsula were not referred to by their Korean names, and their records and classification standards were determined by Japanese scholars. It also sheds light on the efforts of Joseon botanists who founded the Joseon Museum Research Society to ensure that native plant names such as “Geumgangchorong” (Korean lantern flower), “Baramkkot” (anemone), and “Goebuljumoni” (Corydalis) were preserved in academic records.

Professor Seo explained, “I wanted to share the little-known achievements of Joseon botanists who strove to establish the names and records of our plants by our own hands.” He added, “Through the history of recovering plant names erased by Japanese rule, I also wanted to highlight the importance of 'plant sovereignty.'” He said that “this video is being distributed not only on YouTube but also through various social media channels and is being shared with major Korean and international student communities around the world.”

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