1. Basic Principles for Transcription

(1) Romanization is based on standard Korean pronunciation.
(2) No symbols except Roman letters are used so far as possible.

2. Summary of the Transcription System

(1) Vowels are transcribed as follows :

Simple vowels

Diphthongs

Note 1: ㅢ is transcribed as ui, even when pronounced as ㅣ.
Note 2: Long vowels are not reflected in Romanization.

(2) Consonants are transcribed as follows:

Plosives (stops)

Note 1 : The sounds ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ are transcribed respectively as g, d, and b before a vowel; they are transcribed as k, t, and p when they appear before another consonant or as the last sound of a word. (They are transcribed as pronunciation in [ ].)

Note 1

구미	Gumi	영동	Yeongdong	백암	Baegam
옥천	Okcheon	합덕	Hapdeok	호법	Hobeop
월곶[월곧]	Wolgot	벚꽃[벋꼳]	beotkkot	한밭[한받]	Hanbat

Note 2 : ㄹ is transcribed as r before a vowel, and as l before a consonant or at the end of a word: ㄹㄹ is transcribed as ll.

Note 2

구리	Guri	설악	Seorak
칠곡	Chilgok	임실	Imsil
울릉	Ulleung	대관령[대괄령]	Daegwallyeong

3. Special Provisions for Transcription

(1) When Korean sound values change as in the following cases, the results of those changes are Romanized as follows:

The case of assimilation of adjacent consonants

The case of assimilation of adjacent consonants

백마[뱅마]	Baengma	신문로[신문노]	Sinmunno	종로[종노]	Jongno
왕십리[왕심니]	Wangsimni	별내[별래]	Byeollae	신라[실라]	Silla

The case of the epenthetic ㄴ and ㄹ

The case of the epenthetic ㄴ and ㄹ

학여울[항녀울]	Hangnyeoul	알약[알략]	allyak

Cases of palatalization

Cases of palatalization

해돋이[해도지]	haedoji	같이[가치]	gachi	굳히다[구치다]	guchida

Cases where ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, and ㅈ are adjacent to ㅎ

Cases where ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, and ㅈ are adjacent to ㅎ

좋고[조코]	joko	놓다[노타]	nota
잡혀[자펴]	japyeo	낳지[나치]	nachi

However, aspirated sounds are not transcribed in case of nouns where ㅎ follows ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ, as in the examples below.

However, aspirated sounds are not reflected in case of nouns where ㅎ follows ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ, as in the examples below

묵호	Mukho	집현전	Jiphyeonjeon

Note: Tense (or glottalized) sounds are not transcribed in cases where morphemes are compounded, as in the examples below.

(2) When there is the possibility of confusion in pronunciation, a hyphen '-' may be used.

hyphen

중앙	Jung-ang	반구대	Ban-gudae
세운	Se-un	해운대	Hae-undae

(3) The first letter is capitalized in proper names.

The first letter is capitalized in proper names.

부산	Busan	세종	Sejong

(4) Personal names are written by family name first, followed by a space and the given name. As a rule, syllables in given names are not seperated by hyphen, but it is admitted to use a hyphen between syllables. (Transcription in (  ) is permitted.)

Personal names are written by family name first, followed by a space and the given name. In principle, syllables in given names are not separated by hyphen, but the use of a hyphen between syllables is permitted.

민용하	Min Yongha (Min Yong-ha)	송나리	Song Nari (Song Na-ri)

Assimilated sound changes between syllables in given names are not transcribed

Assimilated sound changes between syllables in given names are not transcribed

한복남	Han Boknam (Han Bok-nam)	홍빛나	Hong Bitna (Hong Bit-na)

Transcriptions of family names will be established additionally.

(5) Administrative units such as 도, 시, 군, 구, 읍, 면, 리, 동, and 가 are transcribed respectively as do, si, gun, gu, eup, myeon, ri, dong, and ga, and are preceded by a hyphen. Assimilated sound changes before and after the hyphen are not transcribed.

Note: Terms for administrative units such as 시, 군, 읍 may be omitted.

Terms for administrative units

청주시	Cheongju	함평군	Hampyeong	순창읍	Sunchang

(6) Names of geographic features, cultural properties, and man-made structures may be written without hyphens.

(7) Proper names such as personal names and those of companies may be written as they have been so far.

(8) When it is necessary to convert Romanized Korean back to Hangeul in special cases such as in academic articles, Romanization is done according to Hangeul spelling and not pronunciation. Each Hangeul letter is Romanized as explained in section 2 except that ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㄹ are always written as g, d, b, l. When ㅇ has no sound value, it is replaced by a hyphen may also be used when it is necessary to distinguish between syllables.