hankyoreh

A commentary published by the Oxford English Dictionary on the induction of a number of words of Korean origin into the dictionary. 

“A Korean dish consisting of cooked rice and other ingredients wrapped in a sheet of seaweed and cut into bite-sized slices.”

This is the definition of kimbap according to the Oxford English Dictionary, published by Oxford University Press. 

In the memorable opening scene of the American animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” which took global pop culture by storm this year, the protagonists stuff their mouths full of this dish. In 2023, frozen kimbap became so popular at the American supermarket chain Trader Joe's that the product sold out. In 2020, the cooking section of The New York Times introduced a kimbap recipe, which noted, “often mistakenly referred to as sushi, [kimbap] is a popular Korean dish with its own unique flavors and history.” It also added a tip for those new to the dish: “You can purchase danmuji [or pickled yellow radish] that is pre-cut for kimbap.”

The word “kimbap” appears in English at a frequency of about 0.01 times per million words. This is based on data extracted from major online news media corpora by the OED since 2017. This rate has rapidly increased since 2022, approaching 0.03 times per million words this year.

To mark Hangul Day on Thursday, the 579th anniversary of the creation of Korea’s alphabet, Democratic Party lawmaker Min Hyung-bae reported that a total of 48 Korean loanwords are currently listed in the OED. The assemblyman, who is a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, obtained this data from the National Institute of Korean Language. 

The Hankyoreh verified the OED’s update history and found that 33 of these were added within the last four years.

The OED articulates that new English loanwords from Korean language and culture are the result of the Korean Wave. “K-pop, K-drama, K-beauty, K-food, K-style — these days, everything seems to be getting prefixed with a K- as South Korea’s popular culture continues to rise in international popularity,” it noted.

A more in-depth explanation can be found in an article titled “Introduction to words of Korean origin” by OED World English editor Danica Salazar:

The OED adds new words to its lexicon every three months. The most recent additions of Korean vocabulary took place in September 2021 and December 2024.

In September 2021, 26 words originating from Korean were added all at once: aegyo, banchan, bulgogi, chimaek, daebak, dongchimi, fighting, galbi, hagwon, hallyu, hanbok, japchae, Juche, K-, K-drama, kimbap, Konglish, manhwa, noona, oppa, PC bang, samgyeopsal, skinship, Tang Soo Do, trot and unni.

Among these, “Juche” refers to North Korea’s governing philosophy. The OED defined it as an ideology that “aims to achieve national autonomy [. . .] but is often regarded negatively as fostering totalitarianism” in North Korea. 

In December 2024, seven additional Korean words made their way into the OED: dalgona, hyung, jjigae, maknae, noraebang, pansori and tteokbokki.

In its entry on “dalgona,” the OED included a quote from a 2022 Boston Globe article about the popular Netflix show “Squid Game” as a usage example, as well as an excerpt from a 2021 piece from The Sun, which noted that the candy was “known as ‘ppopgi’ in the 1960s.” 

The recipe page for kimbap in The New York Times’ cooking section. 

In the entry on “maknae,” a quote from a 2024 Hindustan Times article appeared: “The K-pop quartet’s trio jumped on their Instagram stories to shower ‘beloved maknae Lili’ with love.”

The first Korean word to appear in the OED was “Hangul.” Upon reviewing the dictionary’s revision history, the Hankyoreh found that “Hangul” first appeared in a supplement to the dictionary published in 1976. “Hangul” differs from the Korean language per se, as the former refers to Korea’s unique writing system composed of consonants and vowels, while Korean refers to the language we use. The OED defines Hangul as follows: 

“The Korean alphabet, which consists of characters representing consonants and vowels composed in part of smaller elements representing phonetic features such as place of articulation, which are combined into larger units representing syllables. Traditionally ascribed to King Sejong (1419–50), Hangul is the official writing system for the Korean language. It is called Hangeul in South Korea and Joseongeul in North Korea.” 

“Hangeul” is also listed as a variant form of the word. 

In the same year “Hangul” was listed, “kimchi,” “makgeolli,” “gisaeng,” and “myon,” referring to an administrative district, were added to the OED. The definitions for Hangul and kimchi underwent an extensive revision in 2021, reflecting increased interest in and understanding of Korean culture.

In 1982, “onmun,” which is another expression for the Korean script, as well as “ondol” and “ri,” the unit of distance, were added. Around the time of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 10 more Korean terms were included. In 1986, the OED added “taekwondo,” the Korean currency unit “won,” “sijo,” and “yangban”; in 1989, “chaebol,” “bibimbap,” “soju,” “doenjang,” “hapkido,” and the traditional game of “kono” also made their way into the dictionary.

Rise in the frequency of the use of the word “kimbap,” according to the OED. 

On Thursday, in a Facebook post commemorating Hangul Day, President Lee Jae Myung wrote, “The mighty Hangul is the source of Korea’s status as a cultural powerhouse.” 

“The Hallyu wave captivating the world also stems from the power of Hangul, which allows us to convey our thoughts and emotions with clarity. I believe the strength of Hallyu taking root worldwide also depends on our love for Hangul, the source of our culture,” he wrote.

By Kim Nam-il, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]