Korean romanization: why Busan, not Pusan (and what eo and eu mean)

Is it bulgogi or pulgogi? Hangeul or Hangul? Lee or I? Korean in English letters can look different from place to place. There is one official system, one older system that people still use, and many personal choices.

Where did the official system come from?

Revised Romanization of Korean replaced an older system based on McCune–Reischauer. The older system used apostrophes (') and small marks over vowels, like ŏ and ŭ. These were hard to type, so people often left them out.

Revised Romanization uses only normal English letters. You can see it on road signs, subway maps and official documents in South Korea.

How do eo and eu sound?

These two are the most confusing:

• eo (ㅓ) is one sound, not "e" and then "o." It is close to the "u" in "sun," but with the mouth a little more open. 서울 is Seoul. It has two syllables: Seo-ul.
• eu (ㅡ) is also one sound. Say "oo," then make your lips flat. 한글 → Hangeul.

Common reading mistakes:

• Reading Seoul like the English word "soul." It is Seo-ul, with two syllables.
• Saying eo as "ee-oh." It is one vowel.
• Reading ae as "eye" or "ay." ㅐ is closer to the "e" in "bed."
• Thinking o is always ㅗ. To English speakers, ㅓ and ㅗ can both sound like "o."

Which consonants change?

Most consonants are simple: ㅁ m, ㄴ n, ㅅ s, ㅈ j, ㅊ ch, ㅋ k, ㅌ t, ㅍ p, ㅎ h. The double consonants are ㄲ kk, ㄸ tt, ㅃ pp, ㅆ ss, ㅉ jj. ㅇ has no sound at the start of a syllable block. At the end, it is ng.

Four consonants change. The letter depends on their place in the word.

Two ㄹ together are written ll: 빨리 → ppalli ("quickly").

Why Pusan became Busan

Korean ㅂ is softer than English "p." But it is not fully like English "b" either. The older system wrote ㅂ as p. It wrote the strong ㅍ as p', with an apostrophe. Revised Romanization removed the apostrophes. It writes ㅂ as b and ㅍ as p.

So in 2000, the spelling of several city names changed:

You can still see the old spellings in older books and maps.

The same change explains Hangeul and Hangul. Revised Romanization gives Hangeul, because ㅡ is eu. Hangul comes from the older spelling Han'gŭl, without the marks. Many English dictionaries use it.

Both are names for the same alphabet, and both are common.

Does it follow spelling or sound?

It follows sound. Revised Romanization writes what you hear. So the sound rules of 받침 (batchim) — the consonant at the bottom of a syllable block — show in the letters.

There are two exceptions. First, a sound that becomes stronger (tense) is not shown. So 학교 [학꾜] stays hakgyo. Second, a hyphen (-) can be added if a word may be read the wrong way: 해운대 → Hae-undae.

Are these sound changes new to you? Our guide to 받침 sound rules explains them step by step.

Easy mistakes

The biggest mistake is thinking a "non-official" spelling is wrong. The system is for places, signs and documents. People's names can keep their own spelling, and many people do this.

• The family name 이 would be I in the system. But almost everyone writes Lee, Yi or Rhee.
• 김 would be Gim, but almost everyone writes Kim. 박 is Bak in the system and Park in real life. 최 is Choe or Choi.
• Companies and products keep spellings they chose long ago.
• Fans online use many spellings. Saranghae follows the official rules. Aigoo is just a popular habit.

None of these are wrong. They are personal or long-used choices.

Why can't romanization show everything?

English letters were not made for Korean. ㅓ and ㅗ can both look like "o." The 받침 sound rules are hard to show on paper. And English readers read each letter in their own way.

Quick check

1. How do you write 부산 in Revised Romanization? → Busan
2. Which Korean vowel does eo stand for? → the single vowel ㅓ
3. Is 국물 written gukmul or gungmul? → It follows the sound: gungmul