Yeungnam University Publishes Booklet Simplifying Housing Finance Terms

“Paying in Installments” Becomes “Paying in Parts”, “Repayment Deferment” Changes to “Postponed Payment”
50 Simplified Terms Selected with Input from Language and Economic Finance Experts

“From now on, please use ‘Amount Paid on Behalf’ instead of ‘Subrogation Payment (Amount)’ and ‘Paying in Installments’ instead of ‘Amortization’.”

Yeungnam University (President Choi Oechul), in collaboration with Korea Housing Finance Corporation (President Choi Junwoo), has published a booklet that presents frequently used and difficult housing finance terms in the field, translated into correct and easy Korean.

The Korean Language and Culture Center at Yeungnam University (Director Choi Dongju, Professor of Korean Language and Literature) carried out a project to simplify complex housing finance terms, which are deeply embedded in both the specialized and everyday domains of housing finance, into easily understandable Korean. This was done through the “2023 Support Project for Revitalizing the Role of Korean Language Officers,” which took place from July to December last year.

This project was divided into two parts: “Development and Dissemination of Easy-to-Understand Terms” and “Support for Policies to Improve the Korean Language Usage Environment.” The project focused on simplifying difficult terms in the housing finance sector and improving the public language used by the Housing Finance Corporation.

First, about 500 housing finance terms were selected, and alternative expressions were developed. Through multiple rounds of consultation with language and economic finance experts, 50 final simplified terms were chosen. During this process, surveys were conducted among the general public and field practitioners to assess the acceptability of these terms in practice.

Additionally, the actual use of public language was investigated and analyzed, focusing on official documents available on the Housing Finance Corporation’s website. To address the findings, a booklet titled “A Guide to Correct and Easy Public Language” was published.

This “Public Language Guide” booklet recommends using simplified terms for housing finance, such as “Postponed Payment” for “Repayment Deferment,” “Borrower” for “Debtor,” and “Recipient” for “Trustee.”

Housing Finance Terms Simplified into Easy Korean.

Choi Dongju, Director of the Korean Language and Culture Center at Yeungnam University, stated, “Changing established terms requires a great deal of time and effort. However, it is an essential process to guide the public with easy-to-understand terms and to establish a culture of using ‘correct and simple Korean.’ If the specialized or public language used by the Korea Housing Finance Corporation is changed to proper and easy Korean, we expect that work efficiency will improve and communication with the public will become smoother. We encourage everyone to frequently use the improved public language and simplified terms.”

The Korean Language and Culture Center at Yeungnam University plans to promote the use of these improved simplified terms and the culture of correct and easy public language in the housing finance field, and to inform the public of the project’s purpose and achievements through various media channels.