Korean Romanization Rules: How Revised Romanization Works

What you'll learn

• Romanize any vowel and consonant with the official Revised Romanization tables.
• Decide when ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ are g, d, b and when they are k, t, p, and when ㄹ is r, l or ll.
• Apply the four written sound changes and spot the two that are not written.
• Use hyphens, capitals and administrative units such as -gu and -dong correctly.
• Romanize a personal name and recognise the academic transliteration mode.

Before you start: you can read basic Hangul syllables. Time: about 45 minutes, including the practice set. Keep the Korean romanization chart open while you practise.

What Are the Korean Romanization Rules?

The Korean romanization rules are the official notice 국어의 로마자 표기법 ("Romanization of Korean"), issued by South Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on 7 July 2000 and amended in 2014. The rules are short: a set of letter tables, notes on position, a list of sound changes to write, and rules for hyphens, capitals and names. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes them and keeps an official list of example spellings.

The rules have three design choices you will meet on every line:

1. Only the 26 basic Latin letters. No accents, no breves and no apostrophes, so the spelling can be typed on any keyboard.
2. Pronunciation over spelling. In most cases you write what a standard speaker says, not the letters in the Hangul.
3. One spelling per word. Signs, maps and government texts all use the same form.

These rules are part of the wider Korean romanization section, which compares other systems. For a one-paragraph definition, see the glossary entry on Revised Romanization. The second design choice, pronunciation over spelling, explains most of what follows.

Why Does Revised Romanization Follow Pronunciation?

Revised Romanization follows pronunciation because its main readers are people who cannot read Hangul: visitors reading road signs, maps and tickets. A spelling-based system would tell them to say 종로 as "Jongro", but Koreans say [종노]. The romanization Jongno gets the visitor closer to the real name.

The trade-off is that a romanized word does not always tell you the Hangul spelling. Jongno could, in principle, be spelled 종노 or 종로. Scholars who need to recover the exact spelling use a separate transliteration mode, covered later in this lesson. For everyday use, think of Revised Romanization as "write the standard sound, using fixed letters". The fixed letters start with the vowels.

How Are Vowels Romanized?

Vowels are romanized with one fixed spelling each, in every position. Revised Romanization uses two-letter spellings for vowels that English letters cannot show alone, such as eo for ㅓ and eu for ㅡ.

Two vowel rules catch learners out.

• ㅢ is always ui, even when it sounds like [이]. The official example is 광희문, pronounced [광히문] but written Gwanghuimun.
• Long vowels are not marked. Standard Korean still lists long vowels in some words, such as 말 ("speech") against 말 ("horse"), though many younger speakers no longer make the difference; the rules ignore it.

A silent ㅇ at the start of a syllable is not written at all: 아이 is ai, and 우유 is uyu. If you want to hear what eo and eu really sound like, the vowel lessons have audio. Consonants are where position starts to matter.

How Are Consonants Romanized?

Consonants are romanized by sound and by position. Most consonants have one fixed spelling. Four of them, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ and ㄹ, have two, depending on whether a vowel follows.

Notice that ㅋ, ㅌ and ㅍ share the letters k, t and p with final ㄱ, ㄷ and ㅂ. RR does not mark aspiration with an apostrophe, which is the main visible difference from older systems.

ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ: G/K, D/T, B/P

Write ㄱ, ㄷ and ㅂ as g, d and b before a vowel, and as k, t and p before a consonant or at the end of a word. The reason is sound: at the start of a syllable these letters can be voiced between vowels, while at the end they are short, unreleased stops.

• 구미 → Gumi; 영동 → Yeongdong; 백암 → Baegam (ㄱ moves to the next vowel)
• 옥천 → Okcheon; 합덕 → Hapdeok; 호법 → Hobeop

Final consonants are written by their sound, not their letter. 월곶 is pronounced [월곧], so it is Wolgot, and 한밭 is pronounced [한받], so it is Hanbat.

ㄹ: R, L and Ll

Write ㄹ as r before a vowel, l before a consonant or at the end, and ㄹㄹ as ll.

• 구리 → Guri; 설악 → Seorak (ㄹ before a vowel)
• 칠곡 → Chilgok; 임실 → Imsil (ㄹ before a consonant or at the end)
• 울릉 → Ulleung; 대관령 [대괄령] → Daegwallyeong (double ㄹ)

Once you know the letters, the next question is what happens when syllables meet and the sound changes.

Which Sound Changes Are Written?

Revised Romanization writes four kinds of sound change between syllables, listed in Chapter 3, Article 1 of the rules. In each case you romanize the pronounced form, which is shown in [brackets].

1. Assimilation (consonants becoming more alike). 백마 [뱅마] → Baengma; 종로 [종노] → Jongno; 왕십리 [왕심니] → Wangsimni; 신라 [실라] → Silla; 별내 [별래] → Byeollae. The 백마 change is called nasalization: a stop becomes a nasal before ㄴ or ㅁ.
2. Added ㄴ or ㄹ sounds. 학여울 [항녀울] → Hangnyeoul; 알약 [알략] → allyak.
3. Palatalization. ㄷ or ㅌ before 이 becomes ㅈ or ㅊ: 해돋이 [해도지] → haedoji; 같이 [가치] → gachi. See palatalization for the sound rule.
4. Aspiration with ㅎ. ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ next to ㅎ merge into ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ: 좋고 [조코] → joko; 놓다 [노타] → nota; 잡혀 [자펴] → japyeo.

Expert insight: to romanize a word with a sound change, do it in two steps. First write the standard pronunciation in Hangul, then romanize that. Most errors come from trying to do both steps at once. The two changes that are not written break this pattern, so learn them as exceptions.

Sound Changes That Are Not Written

Revised Romanization does not write two sound changes: tensification, and aspiration inside nouns.

Tensification is pronounced but not written. In tensification, a plain consonant becomes tense after certain sounds. 압구정 is pronounced [압꾸정], yet the romanization is Apgujeong, not Apkkujeong. More official examples:

• 낙동강 [낙똥강] → Nakdonggang
• 합정 [합쩡] → Hapjeong
• 울산 [울싼] → Ulsan
• 팔당 [팔땅] → Paldang

Aspiration in nouns keeps the h. When ㅎ follows ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ inside a noun, write the ㅎ separately as h. 묵호 is pronounced [무코] but written Mukho, and 집현전 is pronounced [지편전] but written Jiphyeonjeon. Compare the verb 좋고 above, where the merged sound is written: joko.

These two exceptions are the most common reason a sign does not match what you hear. The next rules are about layout rather than sound.

Hyphens, Capitals and Administrative Units

Revised Romanization uses hyphens in three situations and capitals for all proper nouns.

1. To prevent misreading (optional). 중앙 could be read jun-gang or jung-ang. Writing Jung-ang removes the doubt. The same applies to 반구대 Ban-gudae and 해운대 Hae-undae.
2. Before administrative units. Units such as 도 (do, province), 시 (si, city), 군 (gun, county), 구 (gu, district), 읍 (eup), 면 (myeon), 리 (ri), 동 (dong) and 가 (ga, street section) take a hyphen, and sound changes before them are not written: 삼죽면 → Samjuk-myeon, 도봉구 → Dobong-gu, 제주도 → Jeju-do.
3. In given names (optional). See the names section below.

Numbered units write the Korean number word in brackets: 종로 2가 → Jongno 2(i)-ga, 봉천1동 → Bongcheon 1(il)-dong. The units 시, 군 and 읍 may be dropped: 청주시 can be written Cheongju.

Natural features, buildings and heritage sites take no hyphen, even when they end in a word like "mountain" or "palace": 남산 Namsan, 속리산 Songnisan, 경복궁 Gyeongbokgung, 불국사 Bulguksa. Proper nouns start with a capital letter: 부산 Busan, 세종 Sejong. Personal names follow their own pattern.

How Are Personal Names Romanized?

Personal names are romanized surname first, then a space, then the given name written as one word or with a hyphen between syllables. Sound changes between the syllables of a given name are not written.

• 민용하 → Min Yongha (or Min Yong-ha)
• 송나리 → Song Nari (or Song Na-ri)
• 한복남, pronounced [한봉남] → Han Boknam (or Han Bok-nam), not Han Bongnam
• 홍빛나, pronounced [홍빈나] → Hong Bitna (or Hong Bit-na)

The rules say surnames will be romanized under a separate standard, and Article 7 lets people and companies keep spellings they already use. That is why you see Lee instead of I and Park instead of Bak. Real-world spellings like Lee and Park are explained in full in romanization of Korean names. Now put all the rules together on one word.

Worked Example: Romanizing 독립문

Romanize 독립문, the Independence Gate in Seoul, step by step.

1. Find the pronunciation. ㄱ before ㄹ: the ㄹ becomes [ㄴ], then ㄱ before ㄴ becomes [ㅇ], giving [동닙]. Then ㅂ before ㅁ becomes [ㅁ]. Full pronunciation: [동님문].
2. Check for unwritten changes. No tensification and no noun-internal ㅎ. The assimilation is written.
3. Romanize syllable by syllable from the pronunciation. 동 dong, 님 nim, 문 mun.
4. Apply layout rules. A gate is a heritage building, so no hyphen. It is a proper noun, so capitalise: Dongnimmun.

You'll know you have it right when your answer matches the official form, Dongnimmun. The National Institute of Korean Language lists it among its examples. If you wrote Dokripmun or Doglibmun, you romanized the spelling instead of the sound, which is the transliteration mode below.

Transliteration Mode for Academic Writing

Transliteration mode is a separate option in Article 8 for academic texts where the reader must recover the exact Hangul spelling. Instead of following sound, it maps each Hangul letter to fixed letters, and ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ and ㄹ are always g, d, b and l.

The table shows the gain: normal RR writes 집 ("house") and 짚 ("straw") the same way, while transliteration separates them. You will rarely need this mode, but you will see it in linguistics papers and library catalogues. Its existence explains one common mistake in the next section.

Common Mistakes in Korean Romanization

Learners often make these five mistakes. Each comes from a reasonable but wrong assumption.

• Writing the spelling instead of the sound. Learners often assume RR follows Hangul letter by letter; it follows pronunciation, so 신라 is Silla, not Sinra.
• Adding tense letters for tensified sounds. Learners hear [압꾸정] and write Apkkujeong; tensification is never written, so it stays Apgujeong.
• Using apostrophes for aspiration. K'imch'i is the old McCune–Reischauer style; RR has no apostrophes.
• Reading eo as "e-o". eo is one vowel, ㅓ, close to the vowel in English "son" for many speakers; it is not two sounds.
• Assuming established names are errors. Samsung and Lee are existing spellings that Article 7 allows, and kimchi is an established English word; none of them is a mistake in the rules.

Expert insight: if a sign does not match your answer, check three things in order: a sound change, a missing hyphen, and an established spelling. Those three explain nearly every mismatch.

Practice: Romanize 20 Words

Romanize each word with Revised Romanization. Write the pronunciation first if it helps. Answers are at the end of this section.

1. 서울
2. 부산
3. 대구
4. 인천
5. 광주
6. 울산
7. 제주
8. 김밥
9. 불고기
10. 떡볶이
11. 한국어
12. 경복궁
13. 설악산
14. 대관령
15. 왕십리
16. 해돋이
17. 놓다
18. 낙성대
19. 해운대
20. 종로 3가

Answers: 1 Seoul, 2 Busan, 3 Daegu, 4 Incheon, 5 Gwangju, 6 Ulsan (tensification not written), 7 Jeju, 8 gimbap, 9 bulgogi, 10 tteokbokki, 11 Hangugeo, 12 Gyeongbokgung, 13 Seoraksan, 14 Daegwallyeong, 15 Wangsimni, 16 haedoji, 17 nota, 18 Nakseongdae, 19 Haeundae or Hae-undae, 20 Jongno 3(sam)-ga.

Check your answers with a romanization converter, and compare any difference with the rule in this lesson.

What to Learn Next

This lesson covers the Revised Romanization rules for words, places and names. It does not cover how to pronounce Korean, the McCune–Reischauer system, or North Korean romanization. For the older system used in many books, read Revised Romanization vs McCune–Reischauer next. To apply these rules to longer text, the Korean romanization converter shows which rule it applied to each syllable; this page teaches the rules themselves.

Remember the limit of every romanization: it is a reading aid for people who cannot yet read Hangul, not a way to learn the sounds. The fastest route to correct pronunciation is to read Hangul with audio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Revised Romanization the same as pronunciation? No. Revised Romanization follows pronunciation more than spelling, but it is not a pronunciation guide. It leaves out tensification and vowel length, writes aspirated ㅋ and a final ㄱ with the same k, and uses letters such as eo and eu that English readers often misread. Use audio and Hangul for pronunciation.

Do I have to use capital letters in romanization? Capitals are required for proper nouns such as place names and personal names: Busan, Gyeongbokgung, Han Boknam. Ordinary words written in running text, such as gimchi or bulgogi in a sentence, stay lower case. On signs and title lines, the usual English capitalisation rules for headings apply.

How do I romanize ㅢ? Write ㅢ as ui in every position, even when it is pronounced [이] or [에]. The official example is 광희문, pronounced with an i sound in the second syllable but written Gwanghuimun. Keeping ui lets readers recover the Hangul spelling, which matters for place names on maps and signs.

Is McCune–Reischauer still allowed? South Korean government bodies, road signs and official publications must use Revised Romanization, which replaced the McCune–Reischauer-based system in July 2000. Private people, older companies, libraries and scholars may still use McCune–Reischauer, and North Korea uses its own system based on it. Know both if you read older books.

Can I romanize my name however I want? Yes, for your own name. Revised Romanization gives a standard for names, but South Korean passports let holders use an established spelling, and Article 7 of the rules allows existing spellings for people and companies. That is why Lee, Park and Kim remain common. Keep the same spelling on every document.

Summary of the Korean Romanization Rules

The Korean romanization rules of 2000 come down to six habits: fixed vowel spellings, g/k, d/t, b/p and r/l by position, written assimilation, unwritten tensification, hyphens before administrative units, and surname-first names. Apply them in the order of the worked example and you will match official signs in almost every case.