Clearing Up Korean Confusion

So I had a friend ask me what was more proper to say, South Korea, Republic of Korea, or Korea?

In short, the official term is Republic of Korea (R.O.K.).

However, most people outside of the R.O.K. refer to South Korea as “Korea” and North Korea as “North Korea.”

Since I’m one of those people living outside of the R.O.K., in my ignorance, I refer to it as “Korea.” But I really should refer to it as South Korea or the Republic of Korea. There’s weight and meaning behind calling it “South Korea” or the “Republic of Korea.”

Daehan Minguk Manse!

There’s even a chant for “Republic of Korea.” You’ll hear it in the R.O.K. at sports events, protests, and other such rallies. Listen out for it during the upcoming Winter Olympics in February!

The rally chant goes, “Daehan Minguk Manse!” over and over again. Roughly translated, the chant means “Long live the Republic of Korea.”

(Sidenote: Daehan, Minguk, Manse are the names of adorable triplets who were formerly on the Korean show “Superman Returns.” Check this show out if you haven’t yet. It’s full of Korean kid cuteness!)

Translated, “Daehan” means “Great Han.” “Han” refers to the three ancient states of Ma, Jin, and Byeon that once ruled the southern region of the Korean peninsula.

“Min” means the people and “guk” means country.

So roughly translated, “Daehan minguk manse” would mean “Great Han the people’s country hooray!” But I think we can all agree that “Hooray/long live the Republic of Korea!” sounds a lot better and is what was really meant.

Also, it’s important to note that South Koreans usually refer informally to their country as the Han country (Hanguk 한국). It’s a shortened version for the Republic of Han (Daehan Minguk 대한민국).

South Korea or Republic of Korea – but not “Korea”

I’ve never been chastised by my Korean friends or relatives for just saying “Korea” but they were probably just being nice.

However, even if they didn’t cringe inside when I or others say “Korea” to refer to the R.O.K., maybe they should’ve. After all, there was a war that resulted in there being a divided Korea. So it goes to make sense that we should recognize that. The Republic of Korea didn’t happen over night and there were many lives lost in the process.

So I, for one, will for now on refer to South Korea as South Korea or as the Republic of Korea/R.O.K.

How about you? Did you know that it should be South Korea or Republic of Korea, but not just “Korea”? Share in the comments!