The Manual of Style/Korea (MOS:KO) is a style guideline for Wikipedia articles or content related to Korea.
This guideline is complimentary to the overall Wikipedia:Manual of Style. It provides extra guidance for Korea topics that the main MOS does not cover. MOS:KO should not contradict the main MOS; if you believe it does, please post on the talk page. It should also harmonize with other relevant manuals of style, particularly the Japanese MOS and Chinese MOS.
See also Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean) (WP:NCKO), which provides further guidance on how to render the names of Korea-related concepts in English.
Some Korean-language terms have been adopted into the English language. If such a term can be found in at least one major reliable English-language dictionary (e.g. the famous traditional dictionaries) from a primarily English-speaking country, we consider it an English-language word. For example, "kimchi" and "chaebol".
Sometimes these terms have a WP:COMMONNAME spelling that differs from the output of typical romanization systems. As we are on the English Wikipedia, spell these terms using the most common spellings used in English sources. For instance, "chaebol" and not "jaebeol" (Revised Romanization) or "chaebŏl" (McCune–Reischauer). Also, do not italicize these words per MOS:FOREIGNITALIC. For how to pluralize such words, check what English dictionaries recommend. These words are often not pluralized; e.g. "kimchis" is uncommon.
If a concept is specific to North or South Korea, be specific about which Korea is being referred to; do not only use "Korea" or "Korean" to describe it.
Avoid the use of "Korean", "Korean-American", "Korean-Canadian", "Zainichi Korean", etc in the infobox and lead (often in the §First sentence) to describe people from North Korea, South Korea, or the Korean diaspora (see below for Korean people of other periods). These labels are ethnicities and not unambiguous nationalities (i.e. citizenships). Instead, list nationalities that can be verified to reliable sources. An exception to this is if their ethnicity is significantly related to their notability (MOS:INFONAT, MOS:ETHNICITY).
YKrystal Jung is aSouth Korean and Americansinger.
For historical Korean people of the Korean Empire, Joseon, and Goryeo periods, it is permissible to describe them as "Korean" in the lead, although you should also identify the state or period that they are primarily associated with. For people of the colonial period, describe them as "Korean". For people of other historical Koreanic states, avoid describing them as Korean; instead refer to them by the state they are primarily associated with.
For birth and death places in article bodies and in variations of {{Infobox person}}, default to the name of the place at the time of birth or death. However, do not use the contemporary spelling or name; default to the spelling used in the most relevant article for that place (Template:Infobox person#birth place, WP:MODERNPLACENAME, WP:KO-CONSISTENT).
Ybirth_place =[[Busan]], [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|southern Korea]]
Nbirth_place =[[Pusan]], South Korea ("Pusan" was the common spelling for "Busan" until Revised Romanization was introduced in 2000. However, the common spelling and article title is now "Busan". Also, South Korea did not exist in 1947; it was established in 1948.)
There is generally no need to list the modern equivalent location of the place inside the infobox.
Ybirth_place =[[Busan]], [[Joseon]]
Nbirth_place = [[Busan]], [[Joseon]]<small>(now in South Korea)</small>
Do not put the birthplace in the first parentheses of the lead (MOS:BIRTHPLACE). Make sure to follow MOS:GEOLINK.
If a Korean term does not have a clear WP:COMMONNAME spelling or translation in English (see WP:KO-TRANSLATENAME), you must romanize it.
In general, per MOS:NON-ENG, you should use non-English terms sparingly. Korean terms can be used if they significantly add to understanding. E.g. don't write "He drankmaekju", instead write "He drankbeer".
Which Korean romanization to use
When romanizing a term:
Check to see if/how it is covered in WP:NCKO. That page may prescribe modifications to the strict romanizations dictated here.
Refer to the table below, and select the most appropriate romanization system based on when or where the term is primarily notable. If notable in multiple categories, prioritize recency.
For the first time you use a romanized term, you should wrap it in the {{transliteration}} template, with parameters set to indicate which romanization system is being used. This will automatically italicize the term. Subsequent mentions of the term should not be wrapped, and just be italicized. Examples:
RR: {{transliteration|ko|rr|tteokbokki}}→tteokbokki (try hovering your mouse over the term)
If the term is a proper noun, you should not italicize. In the transliteration template, you can disable italicization by setting italic=no.
Capitalization of romanized terms
Except for romanized titles of WP:KO-WORKS, which should be in sentence case, capitalization should generally follow MOS:CAPS. Notably for us, if a romanized term is not a proper noun, you should not capitalize it; there may be exceptions based on what is commonly done in reliable sources, however.
Spacing can be either mandatory or optional in both MR and RR. Follow mandatory spacing rules for both systems. Be conservative about adding optional spaces. If you do add them, segment either by words or words and particles. Do not insert spaces before particles.
Y누가 기침 소리를 내었어?→Nuga gichim sorireul naeeosseo?
N누가 기침 소리를 내었어?→Nu ga gi chim so ri reul nae eot eo? (no spaces every syllable)
N누가 기침 소리를 내었어?→Nu ga gichim sori reul naeeosseo? (no spaces before particles)
In general, we recommend you use {{Korean/auto}}, {{Infobox Korean name/auto}}, and {{Ko-translit}} to semi-automatically romanize Korean. Manual romanizations on Wikipedia have very frequently had mistakes in them.
Note that these templates produce strict romanizations that may differ from the modified romanizations we recommend in our naming conventions. For more information, read WP:KO-STRICT.
Full-width forms of Roman characters
Full-width forms of Roman letters (Ａ-Ｚ, ａ-ｚ), Arabic numerals (０-９), certain punctuation (！＂＃＄％＆＇（）＊＋，－．／：；＜＝＞？＠［＼］＾＿｀｛｜｝～￠￤￥￦) and spaces ( ) should not be used; ASCII equivalents should be used instead, even when mixed with CJK characters.
Hangul can be helpful in clarifying what Korean concepts are being discussed in the Latin script. Romanizations can sometimes be identical for different Hangul, be irreversible, or be unorthodox. Furthermore, for English-language terms that are translations or official names for Korean terms, it can be difficult to understand what the original Korean name was, which possibly hinders researching or linking the concept being discussed.
Korean term as main subject of article
When the main subject of an article is a Korean-language term, you should display Hangul in the first sentence of the lead per §First parentheses. You can also display Hangul in §Infobox Korean name.
For any romanized or translated Korean term that isn't the main term of the article, when it is used for the first time in that article, you should display Korean text for it in parentheses or in a footnote using {{Korean/auto}}.
If the term already has its own article, do not provide Korean text for it unless if it adds significant understanding.
{{transliteration|ko|rr|[[Bibimbap]]}} is compounded of the words {{transliteration|ko|rr|bibim}} ({{korean|비빔|lit=mixed}}) and {{transliteration|ko|rr|bap}} ({{korean|밥|lit=rice|labels=no}}).
Bibimbap is compounded of the words bibim (Korean:비빔; lit.'mixed') and bap (밥; lit.'rice').
After the first time you display a language label, you should disable subsequent labels in order to reduce visual clutter. In {{Korean/auto}}, this is done by setting labels=no. An exception to this is if there are other non-English languages in the article; in which case enable labels when helpful. Consider hiding labels if the language is already introduced inline before the text (e.g. The Korean word for ''restaurant'' is ''sikdang''({{korean|hangul=식당|labels=no}})).
If you don't need to put Hanja, romanization, or translation right next to Hangul, you can alternatively use {{Lang|ko|...}}.
Do not use italics or bold for Hangul (MOS:BADITALICS). The templates {{nobold}}, {{noitalic}}, and {{normal}} can be used to remove this formatting in places where it is the default, such as within infoboxes.
Sourcing Hangul
You should provide sources for Hangul text, except for if the Hangul is unambiguous (namely if a romanization is perfectly reversible). Avoid inventing your own Hangul spellings for concepts.
In contemporary North and South Korea, Hanja is rarely used. However, it has a number of uses on Wikipedia, especially for concepts that are significant before 1945.
The Hanja for the main topic of an article should generally be displayed between one and two times, if Hanja exist. Hanja should sometimes (see next paragraph) be shown in the §First sentence of the lead. If {{Infobox Korean name/auto}} is on the page, Hanja should appear there.
In general, show Hanja in the lead only if both these conditions are met:
The concept was significant before the 1945 division of Korea
If it is still extant and significant, its current significance is predominantly because of its historical significance
Exceptions to the above may be determined by local consensus. For example, Hanja could be shown in the lead for a recent person who predominantly uses their Hanja name.
Examples where Hanja should be shown:
YGoguryeo (Korean:고구려; Hanja: 高句麗) was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
YGyeongbokgung (Korean:경복궁; Hanja: 景福宮) is a former royal palace in Seoul, South Korea.
Examples where Hanja should not be shown:
NPark Chung Hee (Korean:박정희; Hanja: 朴正熙) was the third President of South Korea.
NGyeongju (Korean:경주; Hanja: 慶州) is a city in South Korea.
NSeolleongtang (Korean:설렁탕; Hanja: 설렁湯) is a Korean soup.
Hanja for other terms
For terms that aren't the main subject of the article, follow similar principles to those used for Hangul in §Gloss. Additionally, if the topic is mostly relevant after the division, consider not displaying the Hanja at all if the Hangul is sufficient for grasping what is being discussed.
Providing Hanja alongside Hangul is helpful for disambiguation, explaining etymology, and for topics relating to time periods where the use of Hanja was widespread.
In general, you should display Hanja and a corresponding Hangul reading together using the {{Korean/auto}} template. If you wish to display only Hanja, use {{lang|ko|put Hanja here}}. We recommend against the use of the parameters ko-Hani and ko-Hant; dealing with them adds complication for little practical gain.
In some cases, only parts of Korean terms and names have corresponding Hanja. For example, a person's name with a native Korean given name: "Kim Da-som". In such cases, you can display Korean mixed script as Hanja: Korean:김다솜;Hanja:金다솜. Note that mixed script should match the spacing of the pure Hangul term, per §Spaces for Hanja.
Do not use hyphens or other placeholder text to indicate when a term has no Hanja, e.g. Korean:놀아주는 여자;Hanja: ---- 女子. Instead, use mixed script: 놀아주는 女子.
While Hangul and Korean mixed script (Hangul and Hanja together) use spaces between words, text written only in Hanja is usually written without spaces. E.g. Korean:고속화 도로;Hanja:高速化道路; the Hangul has a space while the Hanja does not.
There are differences between Hanja and the Chinese characters used elsewhere in the Sinosphere that should be reflected on Wikipedia. The following should not be considered Hanja:
In some cases, when a Korean person already has a Hanja name that is not widely known, Chinese-language sources may invent their own Chinese spelling of the name.
Japanese sources use kanji, another set of Chinese characters that also sometimes differs from those used in Korea. For example, the Hanja name for South Korea, 大韓民國, is rendered as 大韓民国 in Japanese.
However, Japan tends not to invent kanji for people when unknown; it tends to rely on phonetic spellings in katakana instead.
South Korea has also developed its own Chinese-language transcriptions for Korean terms; for example xinqi (Chinese:辛奇) for kimchi (originally a native Korean word without Hanja). Unless explicitly accepted as such in at least one reliable Korean dictionary, such words should also not be considered Hanja.
Unless particularly relevant (e.g. a person is significantly linked to both China and Korea), there is generally no need to mention Chinese transcriptions or romanizations for Korean terms on articles primarily about Korea, for the same reason that listing a Chinese transcription of US president Jimmy Carter's name is not particularly helpful. For example, do not write: Kim Ku (Korean:김구;Hanja:金九;pinyin:Jīn Jiǔ).
If you provide Hanja, you must provide a source for it.
Chinese-language sources are less reliable for determining Hanja, per §Hanja vs. other Chinese characters. Instead, prefer the use of Korean-language sources, especially reliable dictionaries.
For articles about people, if the article title displays family name before given name (as is common in Korean names), you should provide either a {{Family name footnote}} or {{Family name hatnote}}, but not both. The family name footnote should be placed just after the bolded mention of the person's name, with no space in between. If the family name comes after (i.e. the Western ordering), neither templates are needed.
'''National Institute of Korean Language''' ('''NIKL'''; {{Korean|hangul=국립국어원}})
National Institute of Korean Language (NIKL; Korean:국립국어원)
In general, follow this order in the first parentheses. These elements are not all mandatory; see the notes for descriptions of when and how to use each item.
Beginning and end dates for a non-living thing or event
Alternate names, if more than one
If the parentheses become too crowded, consider putting less important information in one or more explanatory footnotes, preferrably variations of {{efn}} or {{NoteTag}}. We recommend you do not use normal reference tags (<ref></ref>) for explanatory footnotes. We would like to keep those reserved for citations.
After merging, do not duplicate the Korean name elsewhere in the infobox, as this leads to redundancy and violates MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE.
This is usually accomplished by adding the |child=yes parameter to the name infobox, then adding the name infobox code to some parameter of the other infobox, usually named |module= or |embedded=.
When multiple language names are involved
If the article topic significantly involves other countries from the Sinosphere, consider using {{Infobox Chinese}} instead, which has parameters for Korean and other Sinosphere languages. If you'd still like semi-automatic romanization of Korean for that template, consider using {{Ko-translit}} in that infobox.
We currently do not know of any reliable tools that convert pre-modern (e.g. Joseon-era) Korean lunisolar dates to Wikipedia's preferred Julian or Gregorian calendars. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has an online tool available that we once recommended, but we learned that it's probably inappropriate for Korean history on Wikipedia. KASI calculates the Korean calendar differently from how past Korean states would have done it: KASI uses modern astronomy and math. However, the tool may still be appropriate for modern (i.e. post-Joseon period) uses of the Korean calendar, for example to calculate upcoming dates of traditional holidays.
If you use lunisolar dates (most Korean- and English-language academic works do), do not use Western month names for them. There are multiple reasons for this. Instead, describe the month names using numbers: 3rd day, 11th month of 1893, not November 3, 1893. For days in intercalary (leap) months, we recommend this phrasing: 3rd day, leap 11th month of 1893. The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty began to use the Gregorian calendar on January 1, 1896; if the source you're using is based on that text, use the Gregorian calendar beginning on that date.
For Gregorian and Julian dates, we allow either the month-day-year (e.g. March 1, 1919) or day–month–year (1 March 1919) format. We allow either because neither North nor South Korea officially prefer either of those formats in English-language writings. Consider choosing either of those formats if the article has strong national ties with another English-speaking country that uses that format. Year–month–day (1919-03-01) can be used in tables, infoboxes, and references—if brevity is helpful—but should otherwise be avoided. The date format used in an article should be consistent and should not be changed without good reason or consensus.
Prefer the use of SI units (MOS:UNIT). If other Korea-related units are used in your sources, such as the li (ri) or pyeong, it is permissible but less preferred to use such units on Wikipedia. If you do use such units, you should link to relevant articles about the units and if feasible provide conversions of them to SI units. Currently, {{Convert}} supports conversion from pyeong to other SI units for area.
To express ranges between numbers, dates, and other things, use an en dash (January 1950 – September 1953 or 1950–1953). Do not use tildes (January 1950 ~ September 1953 or 1950~1953), as is done in South Korea (MOS:DASH).
Do not directly link to the Korean Wikipedia in articles. If the topic doesn't have an article on the English Wikipedia, use {{Interlanguage link}}s instead (MOS:INTERWIKI).
N[[:ko:현순|Hyeon Sun]]→Hyeon Sun (misleading blue link; gives impression English Wikipedia has article)
If the topic already has an article on the English Wikipedia, do not link to the Korean Wikipedia version at all. If you think the Korean version has information that would be useful on the English version, put the {{Expand Korean}} banner at the top of the relevant English Wikipedia article instead.
It is possible to link to the Wiktionary definitions of Korean words and phrases. This typically involves the use of {{linktext}} or an external wikilink, e.g. [[wikt:예]].
Use Wiktionary links for Korean text sparingly. They should generally only be used in the following circumstances:
If the link offers significant understanding of the main topic of the article that cannot be easily communicated within the article
Linguistic contexts (e.g. when the topic is about lexical items)
Do not do the following:
Link each character without regard for where word divisions actually are.
E.g. {{linktext|기|다|리|다}} → 기다리다. The individual definitions of the characters cannot be used to tell you what the overall word means.
Segment text incorrectly.
E.g. {{linktext|대학|생선|교회}} is incorrect; {{linktext|대학생|선교회}} is correct.
Add Wiktionary links to
personal names (including pseudonyms). The meaning of a name does not describe a person, and the definition of a personal name is usually nothing more than "a personal name".
terms that are not suitable for dictionary entries (e.g. 새터데이 – merely a transcription of English "Saturday" and is not used as a word in Korean).
Korean Hanja terms consisting of two or more characters (for these, Wiktionary just gives "Hanja form of Hangul"; see wikt:博物館#Korean for an example). Instead, it is better to link to the Hangul entry directly.
Two or more links in a row are discouraged (WP:SEAOFBLUE).
Lists of family members and family trees should have reliable sources given for them. Follow WP:KOREANNAME for how to render the names of people.
Avoid excessively detailed family trees (WP:NOTGENEALOGY, WP:INDISCRIMINATE). If you do give a family tree, default to only giving the immediate family (no in-laws, only biological and adopted parents, spouses, children, siblings). If there is a more distant relative who is interesting, you can consider mentioning them briefly, but avoid this if it does not impact their main notability. If you do so, avoid indiscriminate listing of all the relatives between these two people.
For Korean-language sources, the following practices are encouraged:
if you're using some variant of {{Citation}}, providing the original Hangul title in the script-title parameter (not the title parameter) with ko: just before the title.
providing a translated title of the work, e.g. in the trans-title parameter.
preferring the use of English for parameters if unambiguous (e.g. for place names or publishers with known English names, use the English names). If you translate or romanize text yourself, provide the original Korean text in the reference.
not squeezing the entire Hangul name into the last parameter. If you'd like to avoid the comma appearing in the name, consider using the author-mask parameter as well.
{{cite news|last = 박 |first = 대로 |author-mask = 박대로 |script-title = ko:서울역 옆 서계동 재개발…최고 39층 2714세대 아파트 짓는다 |trans-title = Redevelopment of Seogye-dong, next to Seoul Station... Building 2,714 apartments with up to 39 floors each |newspaper =[[Newsis]]|via =[[Naver News]]|date = 2024-11-27 |access-date = 2024-12-01 |url = https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/003/0012925932}}
박대로 (2024-11-27). 서울역 옆 서계동 재개발…최고 39층 2714세대 아파트 짓는다[Redevelopment of Seogye-dong, next to Seoul Station... Building 2,714 apartments with up to 39 floors each]. Newsis. Retrieved 2024-12-01– via Naver News.
{{cite book|last = 이 |first = 성주 |author-mask = 이성주 |script-title = ko:청동기·철기 시대 사회 변동론 |trans-title = Social Transformation from the Bronze to Iron Ages |publisher = 학연문화사 |year = 2007 |location = Seoul}}
이성주 (2007). 청동기·철기 시대 사회 변동론 [Social Transformation from the Bronze to Iron Ages]. Seoul: 학연문화사.
↑Using "x and y" is preferred over "x-y". E.g. this is discouraged: South Korean-American.
↑It is nearly universal practice to refer to these people as "Korean", and the names of "Joseon" and "Goryeo" may be opaque to people less familiar with Korean history.
↑Capitalization; "southern Korea" is not a proper noun, as it's not the name of the state.
↑Make sure to use the breve (ŏ ŭ Ŏ Ŭ), not the caron (ǒ ǔ Ǒ Ǔ). See this guide for how to type diacritics.
↑We prohibit indicating optional hyphens like so: Hong Gil(-)dong or Haeundae (Hae-undae). Doing either of these practices is like writing "colo(u)r" or "color (colour)"; these clarifications rarely add significant understanding and just add clutter.
↑Note that Google Translate produces letter-by-letter romanizations; do not use these. E.g. for 독립 it produces doglib instead of our preferred dongnip.
↑Goguryeo was significant before the division and is no longer extant, so Hanja should be shown.
↑Gyeongbokgung was significant before the division. It is still extant and significant today as a tourist destination. However, its significance for tourism is predominantly due to interest in its historical significance. Therefore, we show Hanja.
↑Park Chung Hee was not notable before the division, only after.
↑Gyeongju has been notable before and after the division. While its historical significance is a major factor in its current notability, Gyeongju is still a major city in its own right. Therefore we do not show Hanja.
↑Seolleongtang has been significant before and after the division. It is still significant, but not predominantly because of its historical significance. Therefore, we do not show Hanja.
↑Using just ko is sufficient for rendering Korean text appropriately, and there are nuances and exceptions to the subvariants. Hani only should be applied when there's purely Hanja. If anything in the Hanja parameter is not Hanja, including Hangul (§Partial Hanja) or Latin text, the parameter is inappropriate. Hant is for the Chinese language written in traditional characters (as opposed to Hans for simplified characters), not for Korean. In some environments, ko-Hani displays the text as simplified Chinese and ko-Hant as traditional Chinese, not as Korean.
↑Whether to use a footnote or hatnote is debated; footnotes offer several benefits.
↑Not necessarily identical to Korean pronunciation. Optional. Consider using for any of these scenarios: if the term is a proper noun, if the concept has become widely discussed in English, or if the term fits under §English words of Korean origin.
↑Mostly for organizations; avoid using for people. Do not make up your own abbreviations; only use abbreviations if they have documented usage in reliable sources. Make sure to abide by MOS:ABBR.
↑If showing Korean text does not add significant understanding, or if there is no bolded mention of the title in the first sentence, parenthetical Korean text should be omitted. For example, for Healthcare in South Korea, putting "(Korean:대한민국의 의료)" isn't particularly useful, as the title is a generic phrase and not a name or proper noun, and because the title is in English and is sufficiently descriptive.
↑These should generally go inside {{Korean/auto}}. You can display romanization(s) in the template if they are useful (e.g. name spelling is significantly unorthodox) and not already the article title. For example, if the article title uses a non-standard romanization, like "Syngman Rhee (Korean:이승만;RR:I Seungman)".
↑E.g. "바미당" for "바른미래당"; you can include those elsewhere in the lead.
↑If one name, acceptable under MOS:CHANGEDNAME. If more, place them elsewhere in the lead.
↑For the parameter name, check the documentation for the main infobox (e.g. Template:Infobox person#Parameters). Not all infoboxes have such a parameter (yet); consider making a template edit request to add the parameter if not. Make sure you give specific guidance on what code to change in your request.
↑Firstly, these calendars have leap months: a 13th month every 3 years. There would be no adequate Western name for the 13th month. Secondly, each lunar month generally has a different number of days than their Gregorian/Julian counterpart; calling the 3rd lunisolar month "March" may give the misleading impression that that month has 31 days, when it does not.
↑홍순도 (2018-01-05). 송혜교 등 한류 스타 중국 이름이 기가 막혀[The absolute state of Chinese-language names for Korean Wave stars such as Song Hye-kyo]. Asia Today (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
