Names of Korea
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There are three names of Korea (referring to North Korea and South Korea together) in use today. In the Korean language, Korea as a whole is referred to as Hanguk (Template:Ko-hhrm) by South Korea and Chosŏn (Template:Ko-chmr) by North Korea. The western name "Korea" is used by both countries in international contexts. This article explains the history and modern usage of these names. See also Korean romanization.
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History
See also: History of Korea
The earliest records of Korean history are written in Chinese characters, despite the languages being unrelated. Even after the invention of hangul, Koreans generally recorded native Korean names with hanja, by translation of meaning, transliteration of sound, or even combinations of the two. Furthermore, the pronunciations of the same character are somewhat different in Chinese and Korean, and have changed over time.
For all these reasons, in addition to the sparse and sometimes contradictory written records, it is often difficult to determine the original meanings or pronunciations of ancient names.
Ancient history
Jyusin
Until about 2000 years ago, northern Korea and Manchuria were controlled by Gojoseon. It was first recorded as 朝鮮 by Chinese documents, which is pronounced in modern Korean as Joseon (조선). Go (古), meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later era described below.
The Chinese characters phonetically transcribed a native Korean name, thought to have been then pronounced something like "Jyusin". It may be the same indigenous name that has been transliterated in some Chinese records as 肅愼 (숙신, suksin), 稷愼 (직신, jiksin) or 息愼 (식신, siksin). Some believe the latter terms describe the ancestors of the Jurchen (여진, 女眞).
Other scholars believe 朝鮮, roughly meaning "morning calm" or "land where the fresh morning comes," was a translation of the native Korean Asadal (아사달), the capital of Gojoseon: asa meaning morning, and tar meaning land or mountain. The character 朝 can mean both "morning" (read as zhāo in Chinese) or "dynasty" (read as cháo in Chinese), while 鮮 may translate to "fresh" or "savory," often used to describe rarity.
Han
Around the same time, various chiefdoms in southern Korea grouped into confederacies, collectively called the "Three Han" (Samhan; 삼한). Han is a native Korean root for "leader" or "great," as in maripgan ("king," archaic), halabeoji (originally hanabeoji, "grandfather"), and possibly hana ("one") and haneul ("sky"). Some speculate that it may be related to the Mongol/Turkic title Khan.
Han was transliterated in Chinese records as 韓 (한, han), 幹 (간, gan), 刊 (간, gan), 干 (간, gan), or 漢 (한, han), but is unrelated to the Chinese people and states also called Han.
Guri
Around the beginning of the Common Era, remnants of the fallen Gojoseon were re-united and expanded by the kingdom of Goguryeo. It, too, was a native Korean word, probably pronounced something like "Guri", transcribed with various Chinese characters: 高駒麗 (고구려, goguryeo), 高麗 (고려, goryeo), 高離 (고리, gori), or 句麗 (구려, guryeo). In 高駒麗, the character 高, meaning "high," is an adjective , rather than a part of the transliteration. The character 麗 is sometimes pronounced ri.
The source native Korean name is thought to be either Guru (구루, walled city) or Gauri (가우리, center).
The theory that Goguryeo's founder's family name was Go has been largely discredited (the founder was renamed after the country).
Goryeo, Joseon, and Han revived
In the south, the Han confederacies resolved into the kingdoms of Baekje and Silla, constituting, with Goguryeo, the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In 668, Silla unified the three kingdoms, and Unified Silla was overthrown in 935.
The new kingdom named itself Goryeo (고려; 高麗), in reference to Goguryeo. Through the Silk Road trade routes, Muslim merchants brought knowledge about Silla and Goryeo to India and the Middle East. Goryeo was transliterated into Italian as "Cauli," the name Marco Polo used when mentioning the country in his Travels, derived from the Mandarin Chinese form Gāolì. From "Cauli" came the English names "Corea" and the now standard "Korea" (see Western names below).
In 1392, a new dynasty revived the name Joseon (short name: 조선, 朝鮮, official name: 대조선국, 大朝鮮國). The Chinese characters were often translated into English as "morning calm," and Korea's English nickname became "The Land of the Morning Calm"; this interpretation is not often used in the Korean language, and is more familiar to Koreans as a back-translation from English.
In 1897, the nation was renamed, this time referring to the "Han" legacy: Daehan Jeguk (대한제국, 大韓帝國, literally, "Great Han Empire"; in English, Korean Empire).
20th century
When Korea came under Japanese rule in 1910, the name reverted to Joseon (officially, the Japanese pronunciation Chosen). During this period, many different groups outside of Korea fought for independence, including the Daehan Minguk Imsi Jeongbu (대한민국 임시정부, 大韓民國 臨時政府, literally, "Provisional Government of the Great Han People's Nation"; in English, Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea).
Korea became independent with Japan's defeat in 1945. The country was then divided into the Soviet-occupied north and American-occupied south.
In 1948, the South adopted the provisional government's name of Daehan Minguk (대한민국, 大韓民國, literally, "Great Han People's Nation"; in English, Republic of Korea). Meanwhile, the North became the Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk (조선 민주주의 인민공화국, 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國, literally, "Joseon Democratic People's Republic"; in English, Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
Current usage
Today, South Koreans use Hanguk to refer to Korea as a whole, Namhan (남한, 南韓; "South Han") for South Korea, and Bukhan (북한, 北韓; "North Han") for North Korea. North Koreans use Chosŏn, Namjosŏn (남조선, 南朝鮮; "South Chosŏn"), and Bukchosŏn (북조선, 北朝鮮; "North Chosŏn") respectively. As relations with North Korea resumed, it became standard in South Korea to call North Korea Yibuk (이북, 以北; "The North") to avoid the term Bukhan.
The Korean language is called Hangugeo(한국어 韓國語) or Hangungmal(한국말) in the South and Chosŏnŏ(조선어) or Chosŏnmal(조선말) in the North. The language script is called Hangul(한글) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl(조선글) in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula is called Hanbando(한반도 韓半島) in the South and Chosŏn Pando(조선반도) in the North. Official maps in both countries often do not show the DMZ that divides the two countries, giving the illusion of a united nation.
East Asian names
Until recently, the People's Republic of China tended to use the historic Korean name (朝鲜 chaoxian, Chosŏn), by referring to South Korea as Nanchaoxian (南朝鲜 "South Chosŏn"). Newspapers in the People's Republic of China today use the names that each of the two sides prefer, by referring to North Korea as Chaoxian (朝鲜 "Chosŏn") and to South Korea as Hanguo (韩国 "Hanguk"). The Korean language can be referred to as either 朝鲜语 (Chaoxianyu) or 韩国语 (Hanguoyu), although many people argue that the former is more correct, as China itself has a sizeable minority of ethnic Koreans (朝鲜族 Chaoxianzu) who use the historic name.
The Republic of China in Taiwan, on the other hand, uses the South Korean name, referring to North Korean as Beihan (北韓 "North Han[guk]") and South Korean as Nanhan (南韓 "South Han[guk]"). Similarly, people in Hong Kong and Macau call North Korea Bak Hon (北韓 "North Han[guk]") and South Korea as Nam Hon (南韓 "South Han[guk]").
In Vietnam, people call North Korea Triều Tiên ("Chosŏn") and South Korea Hàn Quốc ("Hanguk"). Prior to unification, North Vietnam used Bắc Triều Tiên (Bukchosŏn) and Nam Triều Tiên (Namjosŏn) while South Vietnam used Bắc Hàn (Bukhan) and Nam Hàn (Namhan) for North and South Korea, respectively. After unification, the northern Vietnamese terminology persisted until the 1990s. When South Korea reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1993, it requested that Vietnam use the name that it uses for itself, and Hàn Quốc gradually replaced Nam Triều Tiên in usage.
In Japan, the names preferred by each of the two sides is used, so that North Korea is called Kita-Chosen (北朝鮮; "North Chosŏn") and South Korea Kankoku (韓国 "Hanguk"). The Korean language is most frequently referred in Japan to as Kankokugo (韓国語). However, when NHK broadcasts a language instruction program for Korean, the language is referred to as Hangulgo (ハングル語) meaning language of the Hangul writing system. This term is not used in ordinary Japanese, but was selected as a compromise to placate both nations in a euphemistic process called kotobagari.
International Names
Both South and North Korea use the name "Korea" (or equivalent) when referring to their countries in English or other western languages.
Because of the coexistence of "Corea" and "Korea" in the 19th century English publications, [1] some Koreans believe Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardized the spelling on "Korea," so that "Japan" would appear first alphabetically. Both governments used both "Korea" and "Corea" until the early part of the Japanese occupation.[2] [3] "English books and maps published through the 19th century generally spelled the country's name as Corea, as did the British government in laying the cornerstone of its embassy in Seoul in 1890 with the name "Corea." But sometime in the early 20th century, "Korea" began to be seen more frequently than "Corea" - a change that coincided with Japan's consolidation of its grip over the peninsula." Most evidence is circumstantial, including a 1912 memoir by a Japanese colonial official that complained of the Koreans' tendency "to maintain they are an independent country by insisting on using a C to write their country's name." [4] No real evidence that Japan forced other countries to use "Korea" has been found and Japanese people are not conscious of alphabetical order.
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Historic Names
In some cases the displaced citizens of former Korean nations maintain their cultural identity in foreign lands. Hence, these people usually do not associate themselves with either the North or South Korean governments. An example of this is the former Korean Empire citizens living in Hawai'i to this day, some of whom still conserve their now-useless Korean Empire passports for its historic value.
Subjects of former Goryeo who moved to Russian and Central Asia call themselves Goryeo-in, or Kareisky in Russian. It is estimated that approximately 1,145 Kareiskys are living in the CIS, including 10,6852 in Russia, 22,000 in Uzbekistan, 20,000 in Kyrgyzstan, 1,7460 in Kazakhstan, 8,669 in the Ukraine, 2,000 in Belarus, 350 in Moldova, 250 in Georgia, 100 in Azerbaijan, and 30 in Armenia. Template:Fn
In Japan, those who moved to Japan before the annexation of the Korean Peninsula usually maintain their distinctive cultural heritages (such as the Baekjae-towns or Goguryeo-villages). Those who moved during the annexation and the imperial era are now called Zainichi Chosenjin/Kankokujin, 在日朝鮮人/韓国人(ざいにちちょうせんじん/かんこくじん) by the Japanese, a term that is also used for people of Korean ancestry living in Japan who do not profess a preference for either North or South Korea.