This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcut: WP:NC-KO

In naming Korea-related topics and article titles, please follow these conventions. For infoboxes, templates, romanization, and other style issues, see also Wikipedia:Manual of Style (Korea-related articles).

Contents 1 Romanization of names 1.1 Name order 1.2 Family name 1.3 Given name 1.4 Royalty 2 Place names 2.1 Administrative divisions 2.1.1 Provinces 2.1.2 Cities and counties 2.2 Mountains 2.3 Rivers 2.4 Islands 2.5 Temples 2.6 Sea of Japan (East Sea) 3 External references

[edit] Romanization of names

Personal, organization, and company names should generally be romanized according to the nameholder's preference, or if it cannot be determined, established English spelling (e.g., Kim Il-sung and Syngman Rhee instead of "Kim Il-sŏng" and "Yi Seung-man").

If there is no nameholder preference and no established English spelling, then Revised Romanization should be used for South Korean and pre-1945 Korean names, McCune-Reischauer for North Korean names.

Generally, Korean templates should be used to show the native script and both romanizations. Please be sure to create redirects from both romanizations and any other likely romanizations and common misspellings.

[edit] Name order

Unless the subject is known to prefer otherwise, family name should be written first.

[edit] Family name

Unless the subject is known to prefer otherwise such as Kim, Lee, Park or Yoon, family names are romanized per Revised Romanization (RR) for South Koreans and pre-1945 Koreans, or McCune-Reischauer (MR) for North Koreans, with the following exceptions;

Surname in Hangul	Revised Romanization	Common usage
김	Gim	Kim
박	Bak	Park
이	I or Yi	Lee

[edit] Given name

Koreans variously spell two-syllable given names as a joined word or separated by a hyphen or a space, with the second syllable occasionally capitalized. If there is no personal preference, and no established English spelling, hyphenate the syllables, with only the first syllable capitalized (e.g., Hong Gil-dong).

[edit] Royalty

The article titles for monarchs should use the format Name (the Great) of Kingdom. For example: Seondeok of Silla; Sejong the Great of Joseon; Gojong of Korea.

See List of Korean monarchs formatted as above, together with Wikipedia [[]] links to the articles for the individual monarchs.

Appropriate infobox templates should be used.

[edit] Place names

Articles about places should use the appropriate infobox templates.

Generally, place names are romanized according to the official romanization system of the country the place is a part of. Thus, North Korean place names use McCune-Reischauer Romanization (except that ŏ, ŭ, and the apostrophe (') are not used in article titles, although they may be used in article bodies), while South Korean place names use the Revised Romanization of Korean.

[edit] Administrative divisions

In general, when romanized, place names in both North and South Korea add a hyphen between the place's name and its legal designation (thus, "X-do" for X도; "X-gun" for X군; and so on).

[edit] Provinces

For clarity, province articles should be titled with the full name, i.e. "Gyeongsangbuk-do" rather than "Gyeongbuk."

South Korean provinces are named "X-do", without any spaces or the word "Province." At present, North Korean provinces simply bear the simple name of the province, as in Chagang.

[edit] Cities and counties

For cities and counties, use the romanization of the city name, without the "-si" or "-gun" (e.g., Seoul, Busan). If disambiguation is needed, "City" or "County" may be added for South Korean cities and counties. For North Korean locales, "-si" and "-kun" should be used.

[edit] Mountains

Articles about specific mountains should be titled with the mountain's full unhyphenated Korean name including san should be used, as in Seoraksan. If disambiguation is needed, "mountain" can be added -- see Wikipedia:Disambiguation.

This convention applies to mountains without an accepted English name. If a different name has been established in common English usage, it should be used, per Wikipedia:Use common names.

[edit] Rivers

Articles about rivers should be named with the short river's short Korean name (without gang or kang) followed by the word River. Thus the article on the Nakdong (Nakdonggang) is at Nakdong River.

If disambiguation with a non-Korean river is needed, "(Korea)" can be added -- see Wikipedia:Disambiguation. An example of this would be Han River (Korea).

[edit] Islands

For islands, the full unhyphenated Korean name including do should be used, as in Baengnyeongdo. If disambiguation is needed, "Island" can be added -- see Wikipedia:Disambiguation.

This convention applies to islands without an accepted English name. If a different name has been established in common English usage, it should be used, per Wikipedia:Use common names.

[edit] Temples

For Buddhist temples, the full unhyphenated Korean name including sa should be used, as in Bulguksa. If disambiguation is needed, "Temple" can be added -- see Wikipedia:Disambiguation.

This convention applies to temples without an accepted English name. If a different name has been established in common English usage, it should be used, per Wikipedia:Use common names.

This convention may be applied mutatis mutandis to Confucian and other shrines which lack common or official English names, such as the Jongmyo.

[edit] Sea of Japan (East Sea)

Per the vote that took place from 18 July 2005 to 8 August 2005 here, this is the new naming convention for the body of water that separates Japan and Korea:

1. For all international articles use: [[Sea of Japan]]
2. For all Japan articles use: [[Sea of Japan]]
3. For all Japan/Korea and South Korea articles use: [[Sea of Japan]] (East Sea)
4. For all Japan/North Korea articles use: [[Sea of Japan]] (East Sea of Korea)
5. For all Korea and South Korea articles use: [[Sea of Japan]] (East Sea)
6. For all North Korea articles use: [[Sea of Japan]] (East Sea of Korea)

Per the conditions of the vote, use (East Sea) only once at the first mention.

[edit] External references

• (Korean)Englishname.net - Seoul City Government Web site giving official romanizations of the names of cities and towns, railway lines and stations, company names, and so on.
• (Korean)Romanization of roads