"John Park?, Park John?"... On-site Meeting Held Over Confusion in Foreign Name Notation

'Principles for Foreign Name Notation', Direct Feedback from Foreigners
Opportunity to Communicate Directly with Foreigners Subject to the Standard Policy
"Notation Principles for Administrative Documents... Not Rules for Everyday Notation"

As the method of recording foreign names in administrative documents is unified to follow the order of surname followed by given name, the government will hold a meeting with foreigners due to confusion raised on the ground. This is to explain the policy intent to foreigners and gather opinions to find improvements.

On the 10th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will hold an on-site meeting to directly explain the 'Standard Plan for the Notation of Foreign Names' to foreigners and listen to their opinions.

This standard plan was prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to address complaints from foreigners who experienced inconvenience due to inconsistent name notations in administrative documents, collected through dialogues with policy customers and field visits.

Until now, the method of recording foreign names in documents issued by administrative agencies varied. The order of surname and given name differed depending on the certificate, and whether to separate or combine the surname and given name was not unified. According to the previously announced standard plan by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, foreign names in Roman letters on administrative documents will henceforth be written in uppercase in the order of 'surname - given name,' with a space between the surname and given name as the principle. For example, 'Tom Sawyer' should be written as 'Sawyer Tom,' and basketball player 'Michael Jordan' as 'Jordan Michael.'

After the government announcement, confusion arose on the ground. John Park, a Korean-American singer, was also surprised by the foreign name notation standard plan. According to the standard plan, 'John Park' should be written as 'Park John' going forward. However, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated at the time of the announcement that it plans to finalize and implement the standard regulation after a public opinion collection process regarding the foreign name notation standard plan.

At this meeting as well, it will be explained that the standard plan sets the principles for name notation when recorded in 'administrative documents' and does not regulate the principles for notation in daily life. In addition, to reduce confusion, it will be guided that the previously used name notations will continue to be used, and only newly registered administrative document notations will be recorded according to the standard plan.

▲ The progress of promoting the principles for foreign name notation ▲ The exact contents of the standard (plan) ▲ Expected effects will also be introduced directly. In particular, there will be time for free discussion from the perspective of foreigners, the policy targets, on major issues such as the 'surname - given name order' and 'whether to separate with spaces.'

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to directly listen to foreigners' opinions through on-site meetings and finalize the regulation by the end of this year. Hwang Myeong-seok, head of the Administrative and Civil Service System Improvement Planning Group, said, "We plan to reflect the matters discussed at the on-site meeting in the regulation," and added, "We will strive to resolve the inconveniences foreigners experience in daily life through the implementation of the regulation."