Korean Romanization Converter
Paste Korean to get it in English letters by the official rules, which follow pronunciation: 같이 is pronounced [가치], so it becomes gachi. Names are different: the family name 김 is officially Gim but almost always written Kim.
Romanization chart: consonants
A consonant is written differently at the start of a syllable and at the end. At the end of a syllable only seven sounds are possible: k, n, t, l, m, p, ng.
| Letter | Before a vowel | At the end |
|---|
| ㄱ | g | k |
| ㄲ | kk | k |
| ㄴ | n | n |
| ㄷ | d | t |
| ㄸ | tt | — |
| ㄹ | r | l |
| ㅁ | m | m |
| ㅂ | b | p |
| ㅃ | pp | — |
| ㅅ | s | t |
| ㅆ | ss | t |
| ㅇ | (silent) | ng |
| ㅈ | j | t |
| ㅉ | jj | — |
| ㅊ | ch | t |
| ㅋ | k | k |
| ㅌ | t | t |
| ㅍ | p | p |
| ㅎ | h | t |
Two rules to remember: ㄹ is r before a vowel and l at the end, and ㄹㄹ is always ll (빨리 (ppalli)). ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ are g, d, b before a vowel but k, t, p before another consonant or at the end (한국 (hanguk)).
Romanization chart: vowels
| Letter | Romanization | Letter | Romanization | Letter | Romanization |
|---|
| ㅏ | a | ㅓ | eo | ㅗ | o |
| ㅜ | u | ㅡ | eu | ㅣ | i |
| ㅐ | ae | ㅔ | e | ㅚ | oe |
| ㅟ | wi | ㅑ | ya | ㅕ | yeo |
| ㅛ | yo | ㅠ | yu | ㅒ | yae |
| ㅖ | ye | ㅘ | wa | ㅙ | wae |
| ㅝ | wo | ㅞ | we | ㅢ | ui |
ㅢ is always ui, even when it is pronounced [이]: 희망 (huimang) (hope).
Romanization follows pronunciation
The official system writes how a word sounds, so the spelling and the romanization do not always match letter for letter. Compare:
| Word | Pronounced | Official | Letter by letter | Rule |
|---|
| 맛있어요 | [마시써요] | masisseoyo | matiteoyo | Linking (a final consonant moves to the next syllable) |
| 백마 | [뱅마] | baengma | baekma | Nasalization (k, t, p become ng, n, m) |
| 왕십리 | [왕심니] | wangsimni | wangsipri | Nasalization |
| 신라 | [실라] | silla | sinra | ㄴ + ㄹ becomes ll |
| 종로 | [종노] | jongno | jongro | ㄴ + ㄹ becomes ll |
| 같이 | [가치] | gachi | gati | Palatalization (t + i becomes chi / ji) |
| 해돋이 | [해도지] | haedoji | haedoti | Palatalization |
| 좋고 | [조코] | joko | jotgo | ㅎ makes the next sound aspirated |
| 압구정 | [압꾸정] | apgujeong | apgujeong | Tense sounds are NOT written |
| 낙동강 | [낙똥강] | nakdonggang | nakdonggang | Tense sounds are NOT written |
Korean family names: usual vs official spelling
The 20 most common family names. The usual spellings are the ones most people use in passports and the media; they are not the only ones (이 also appears as Yi or Rhee, 박 as Pak).
| Hangul | Hanja | Usual | Official |
|---|
| 김 | 金 | Kim | Gim |
| 이 | 李 | Lee | I |
| 박 | 朴 | Park | Bak |
| 최 | 崔 | Choi | Choe |
| 정 | 鄭 | Jung | Jeong |
| 강 | 姜 | Kang | Gang |
| 조 | 趙 | Cho | Jo |
| 윤 | 尹 | Yoon | Yun |
| 장 | 張 | Jang | Jang |
| 임 | 林 | Lim | Im |
| 한 | 韓 | Han | Han |
| 오 | 吳 | Oh | O |
| 서 | 徐 | Seo | Seo |
| 신 | 申 | Shin | Sin |
| 권 | 權 | Kwon | Gwon |
| 황 | 黃 | Hwang | Hwang |
| 안 | 安 | Ahn | An |
| 송 | 宋 | Song | Song |
| 전 | 全 | Jeon | Jeon |
| 홍 | 洪 | Hong | Hong |
How the official system works
South Korea's official system is the Revised Romanization of Korean, adopted in 2000. It uses only plain letters, with no accents or apostrophes, so it can be typed on any keyboard. Road signs, subway maps and textbooks all use it, which is why you see Gyeongbokgung, Hongdae and Myeong-dong in Seoul.
Its main idea is to write the sounds. When final consonants meet the next syllable they often change: ㄱ before ㅁ becomes ㅇ, so 백마 (baengma); ㄴ next to ㄹ becomes ㄹ, so 신라 (silla). The converter applies these rules automatically and shows the pronunciation in brackets.
What the rules do not show
- Tense sounds: 압구정 sounds like [압꾸정] but is written Apgujeong.
- Names: given names keep their letters, without sound changes: 복남 is Boknam, not Bongnam.
- ㅎ in nouns: when ㅎ follows ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ in a noun, it is kept: 묵호 is Mukho and 집현전 is Jiphyeonjeon. The converter cannot tell nouns from verbs, so it writes the sound (muko); fix these by hand.
- Hidden sounds in compound words: some words add a sound the spelling does not show, like 학여울 [항녀울], officially Hangnyeoul. Automatic tools miss many of these.
Hyphens and capital letters
Place and personal names start with a capital letter. A hyphen may be used when a word could be read two ways: 해운대 is Hae-undae so it is not read “Haeun-dae”. Units of address get a hyphen too: Jeju-do (province), Jongno-gu (district), Insa-dong (neighborhood). The sound changes before these units are not written: 삼죽면 is Samjuk-myeon.
The older McCune–Reischauer system
Before 2000, South Korea used McCune–Reischauer, which marks some vowels with a breve and aspirated consonants with an apostrophe: Sŏul, Pusan, Ch'ŏnan. You still see it in older books, academic writing about Korea and North Korean names (Pyongyang, not Pyeongyang). Many company and brand names also keep older spellings: Hyundai would be Hyeondae under today's rules.
Frequently asked questions
Why is 김 written Kim and not Gim?
Under the official system (Revised Romanization, 2000) 김 is Gim, because ㄱ at the start of a word is written g. But family names were spelled long before 2000, and most families kept their old spelling: Kim, Lee, Park, Choi. For people's names, the usual spelling is what you will see in passports and the media.
Why does 같이 become gachi and not gati?
Korean romanization follows pronunciation, not spelling. 같이 is pronounced [가치], so it is written gachi. In the same way 종로 is pronounced [종노] and written Jongno, and 신라 is [실라], Silla.
Why are tense sounds like ㄲ not written in 압구정?
압구정 is pronounced [압꾸정], but the official rules say tensification is not shown, so it is Apgujeong, not “Apkkujeong”. The same goes for 낙동강 (nakdonggang) and 울산 (ulsan).
Is it Seoul or Sŏul? Busan or Pusan?
Sŏul and Pusan are the older McCune–Reischauer system, used in South Korea until 2000 and still the base of North Korea's system. South Korea now uses Revised Romanization: Seoul, Busan, Daegu (formerly Taegu), Jeju (formerly Cheju).
How are Korean names romanized?
Names are written syllable by syllable without sound changes, family name first. A hyphen between the two syllables of a given name is allowed: 한복남 is Han Boknam or Han Bok-nam, even though it is pronounced [한봉남]. Type a full name like 김지민 into the converter to see both the usual and the official spelling.
Can I turn romanization back into Hangul?
Yes, use the “Romanization → Hangul” tab. Because the same Latin letters can be read in several ways (for example eo and o, or whether ng belongs to one syllable or two), the tool shows up to three guesses. Check the result before you use it.