Hangul to romanization

Paste Korean text and get it in Latin letters, using the system on Korean road signs. Sound changes are applied — 합니다 comes out as hamnida, not hapnida.

Why the same word has two spellings

Busan and Pusan are the same city. Korea switched systems in 2000, and older books, older people and personal names still use the old one. The full story is in Busan or Pusan?

Why it is not letter for letter

Romanization follows the sound, not the spelling. 감사합니다 is written with ㅂ but pronounced with ㅁ, so it comes out hamnida. This tool applies the common assimilations; a few rare ones it will miss.

Two systems, one country

Korea has used two main systems for writing Korean in Latin letters. The older one is McCune-Reischauer, devised in the 1930s and still common in books, libraries and personal names. The newer one is the 2000 Revised Romanization, announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in July 2000. It is the official system and is the one on road signs and in government documents. Both are in use, which is why you will see Busan and Pusan for the same city.

What changed in 2000

The 2000 system made three main changes.

• Plain letters for the consonants

  ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ are written g, d, b, j, and ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ are written k, t, p, ch. The older system marks the aspirated ones with an apostrophe, such as k' and ch', which is harder to read on a phone.
• No marks above or beside the letters

  The older system uses breve and apostrophe marks, such as ŏ and ŭ. The 2000 system writes ㅓ as eo and ㅡ as eu, so it works on any keyboard.
• Different spellings for some words

  고구려 is Goguryeo in the new system and Koguryo in the old. Many foreign newspapers still use the old form.

Sound changes it applies

Romanization follows the sound, not the spelling. Korean spelling and pronunciation differ in several common ways, and the 2000 system writes what is said. Four are worth knowing.

• Nasal change (비음화)

  합니다 is written with ㅂ but said with ㅁ, so it becomes hamnida. 백마 becomes baengma.
• Linking (연음)

  When a syllable ends in a consonant and the next begins with a vowel, the consonant moves across. 먹어요 becomes meogeoyo.
• Aspiration (격음화)

  ㅎ joins with a following ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅈ to make a strong sound. 좋고 becomes joko, and 놓다 becomes nota.
• Palatalization (구개음화)

  ㅌ before ㅣ is said as ch, so 같이 is gachi, not gati.

Why it is not letter for letter

A common surprise is that the romanized word looks wrong for the spelling. That is the point. The system is written to be read aloud correctly by someone who does not know Hangul. Learners often read the romanization and say the word as it looks, which is why the sound changes matter. Once you know the four above, most romanized words become predictable.

Names and places keep their own spelling

The official rules allow personal names, place names and company names to keep the spelling people already use. That is why a family name is often written Kim or Lee, and why a company is Samsung. The tool follows the rules and does not change a name to match a custom. For a person’s name, check the form you need before you use it on a document.

Reading a romanized word back

The most useful way to use a romanized word is to read it as written, then compare it with the sound changes. Take 국물, the word for soup broth. The system writes it as gungmul, not gukmul. The ㄱ before ㅁ is said as ng, and the romanization shows that sound, so the written form is the one to copy. Learners who read the spelling and say gukmul are understood, but the sound is not quite right.

Another good test is a word you already know. 좋아요 comes out joayo. That looks like jo-a-yo, but the ㅎ of 좋 is not written, because the sound moves into the next syllable. Reading the romanization next to a real recording is the fastest way to see where the letters and the sound part company.

Where the tool can miss

It applies the common sound changes, but a few rare ones are not covered, and some words have an accepted spelling that does not follow the rule. If a result looks odd, check the word in a dictionary, or ask a Korean speaker. Proper nouns are the best example of something to check.

Spacing follows the words, not the blocks. A whole sentence keeps its spaces, so each word is romanized on its own. 안녕하세요 is one word and comes out as annyeonghaseyo with no gaps, while 저는 학생이에요 is two words, and the romanization keeps the gap between them.