**The National Institute of Korean Language Announces 2024 New Words Meeting:**
**‘Ombudsperson’ to be Used as ‘Child Rights Advocate’**
**‘Black Ice’ in the Process of Becoming ‘Road Frost’**
[Herald Economy by Kim Hyun-kyung] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of Korean Language have refined 76 foreign words introduced into Korean society in 2024 into more easily understandable Korean expressions.
As a result of a survey conducted on the public acceptance of these newly refined words for 2024, ‘혈당 급상승’ (blood sugar spike) was evaluated as the best-refined term. The foreign term ‘ombudsperson’ was pointed out as one that should be replaced with an easier Korean word.
The refined terms were selected through 18 rounds of expert discussions and surveys of 2,500 people per session from March to December last year, and were finalized by the Korean Language Deliberation Committee’s Language Purification Subcommittee.
The terms considered the best refined by the public were ▷혈당 급상승 (blood sugar spike) ▷금리 대폭 인하 (big cut) ▷역량 강화 (upskilling) ▷금리 소폭 인하 (small cut) ▷가치 향상 (value-up) in that order. Additionally, ▷반려동물 돌보미 (pet sitter) ▷책 소개 영상 (book trailer) ▷교차 검증 (cross-check) were also regarded as well-refined terms.
The foreign term with the highest number of responses suggesting it should be converted to an easier Korean term was ‘ombudsperson’. It signifies a representative role that protects and remedies children’s rights when they are infringed upon, and has been refined to ‘아동 권리 대변인’ (child rights advocate). Other terms like ‘off leash’, ‘reskilling’, and ‘fulfillment’ also received many responses advocating for a change to easier Korean expressions.
Additionally, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of Korean Language investigated the practical usage of words refined earlier to see how frequently they have been used. They examined the actual usage of the term ‘도로 살얼음’ (road frost), which was proposed as a substitute for ‘black ice’ in the September 2021 New Words Meeting.
An analysis conducted on ‘Big Kinds’, a platform that allows for the search of major newspapers, revealed that up until 2021, before the refinement to ‘도로 살얼음’, the term ‘black ice’ was used more frequently. However, since 2022, ‘도로 살얼음’ began to surpass ‘black ice’ in usage, and since 2023, it has been used much more. The refined term has not only been used in media but also in disaster messages, indicating its integration into the Korean language.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of Korean Language plan to continue swiftly refining newly introduced foreign terms into simple Korean expressions before they come into widespread use in 2025. They will also consistently monitor and analyze the usage trends of refined words to identify those that receive public support.