Is it true that 'korea' is spelt as 'corea' in Korea?

Answer 1

This is an easy question. In the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, there is a hard K sound, once written as a k with an aspirant mark (K') and a soft K sound, written as a k without the mark (k).

They have decided that this was too hard for foreigners to figure out, so they just changed it to a k and a g. However, in English, the g in the front of the word can sometimes not have a gutteral sound but a dental sound:
"Gas" gutteral G sound
"Genes" dental G sound

So to differentiate, they use the C instead.

As a not to the guy above, that is simply propoganda. The japanese usualy used the north Korean name "Chosen" or the same spelling "Corea" much more often than they used Korea. However, that is a popular story that some Koreans use to stir up nationalist sentiment.

So why don't they change all of their (k) sounds to "c"? Well, the Korean surname Kim, for example, if changed to a "c", becomes Cim. Most foreigners might not know to pronounce that "Chim", "shim", or "Kim" so the Koreans apply this rule selectively.

Lastly, I would like to say that we don't have the hard (K') sound in english. But we do have a softer "c" sound that sounds like the way the koreans pronounce "k". So spelling Corea with a "K" makes sense, because it is the only way that the county's name can be pronounced by English speakers correctly nearly every time.

Answer 2

Officially speaking it is NOT spelt 'Corea'. It is still spelt 'Korea'.

Yes a long time ago it was 'Corea', but Japanese imperialists who invaded us in the early 20th century changed everything. The Taegukgi (our flag) was forbidden like how you can't display the swastika in Germany, you had to speak Japanese at all times, and it was pretty bad overall. The Japanese were taught to treat us not like human beings, but something less, because the government's aim was to conquer all of Asia. They changed the spelling of 'Corea' to 'Korea' with a K so that it could represent how Koreans are one step below Japan. Get it? the alphabet...

abcdefghiJ..... and then K...

During the 2002 World Cup there were a lot of posters and whatever with 'Corea' in it. I forgot why they did that but I guess it inspires a feeling of 'standing up again'.

I don't know. I'd rather spell it Korea, just so that we can remind ourselves that we were once a conquered people, but now we use the memory of us once being conquered as motivation towards greatness.

You can spell Korea 'Corea' or 'Korea' in Korea both ways. It doesn't matter what you use, but officially it is 'Korea'. I don't know what other Koreans might think but I'd rather you spell it with a K. Plus it looks cooler IMO :P

Answer 3

I've been living in Korea for 4 years, and I've seen both spellings when it's written in Roman letters. The reason I've heard is similar to what Kitty said. It used to be spelled "Corea", but was changed by the Japanese during the Japanese colonial period, so Japan would come first in a list of nations. Whether or not this is true, or just residual anti-Japanese sentiments, I'm not sure.

Answer 4

Unless this is something new, It's always been 'Korea' in English.
I know their some other country, (usually Spanish speaking country), writes as 'Corea', but not in Korea.
Korea's name in Korean is either 'dahonminguk', or 'Honguk' by the way it sound and they call USA 'Miguk', meaning the beautiful country.
I don't know why not each country can have just one name for the whole world.
In Korea, German is Doichiland, closer to what they called themself.

Answer 5

They do write it as Corea sometimes and Korea sometimes too. I myself am Korean and write it with a K but it really doesnt matter

Answer 6

There has been a debate over this issue. Koreans bedated that Korea should be internationally written "Corea" instead. But there's still some Koreans who write as "Korea".

But would they write "Corean" rather than "Korean"?

Answer 7

The Korean language is mainly written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet, sometimes with some chinese characters to write words or Chinese-Korean origin. Hangul has 14 consonants and 10 vowels. When using Romanized Korean the letter K is used rather than C, because it is the norm in phonetics to represent that sound.

Answer 8

it was spelled "corea" from back in the 12century. however, there is no clear explanation why it was changed from 'c' to 'k'.
people are still debating that during japan's colonialism over corea, japanese changed it b/c 'c' goes before 'j' in alphabetical order.
to believe it or not...

Answer 9

yes, they spell it that way.
its because of the european influence that we spell it with a 'k', but originally its spelt with a 'c' because of the japanese influence, because some ofthe korean language is the same the japanese language.

Answer 10

in korea they speak and write in korean. my friend was born in korea and everyone she knows there speaks/writes in korean