Standardized Romanization of Korean foods to be released

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Monday that it would be releasing a draft for the standard Romanization and translation of Korean dishes in commemoration of Hangeul Day on Oct. 9.

Hangeul Day celebrates the invention of the Korean writing system during King Sejong’s reign in 1447 and became an official national holiday again this year.

The Ministry of Culture worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to produce a draft that includes the Romanization as well as suitable translations of about 200 different Korean dishes into English and Chinese. A Japanese translation of the dishes will also be released in the future.

Both ministries are pushing for Korean restaurants abroad to use the standardized terms proposed in the draft, instead of using their own methods of Romanization and translation.

What is notable about the draft is that alongside bulgogi, kimchi and bibimbap, dishes that appear in the dictionary in their Romanized form, the Romanized “gimbap” will also be included in the Oxford Dictionary (oxforddictionaries.com). Gimbap ― often written kimbap ― is a seaweed-wrapped rice roll filled with a variety of ingredients, cut into bite-sized pieces, and often enjoyed during picnics or outdoor events.

With the entry of the Romanized version into the dictionary, people will now be able to differentiate gimbap from the similar yet different popular Japanese dish, norimaki.

The final version of hansik Romanization will be released in November after a survey of citizens. The final document will then be distributed to Korean restaurants abroad, to be used as a guideline to standardize the names and translation of Korean dishes worldwide.

By Cha Yo-rim (yorimcha@heraldcorp.com)