Hangul romanizer
Paste Korean text and read it in Latin letters in the Revised Romanization system used in South Korea. Each syllable is split into its consonants and vowel, and the main pronunciation changes between neighbouring syllables are applied. The rules are simplified, so use it as a guide, not as an official transcription.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Paste Korean text.
- Optionally turn on capitalization or hyphens between syllables (a style often used for names).
- Copy the Latin text. Other characters stay as they are.
How it works
Each syllable’s code minus 0xAC00 is divided into initial, vowel and final parts. Then rules between neighbouring syllables are applied, and each part is written with the Revised Romanization letters.
Worked example
감사합니다 is gamsahamnida: the final ㅂ in 합 becomes m before ㄴ. 대한민국 is daehanminguk.
Tips
Compare unusual words with a dictionary. Place names in Korea are usually written following the national rules, which can differ for personal names.
Frequently asked questions
How are the syllables decomposed?
Every precomposed Hangul syllable has a Unicode code that encodes one of 19 initial consonants, 21 vowels and 28 final-consonant options (including none). The tool computes these from the code and then writes each part in Revised Romanization.
Which sound changes are applied?
A final consonant moves to a following syllable that starts with ㅇ (한국어 is hangugeo), final consonants are reduced to their spoken sound, nasalization occurs (합니다 is hamnida), ㄹ is doubled in 신라 (silla), ㄷ and ㅌ before 이 become j and ch (같이 is gachi), and ㅎ is merged with ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ and ㅈ (좋고 is joko).
What is not covered?
Tensification is not written in Revised Romanization, and this tool does not model every rule: ㄴ-insertion in compounds and some rare changes are missing. Changes are applied only inside a run of Hangul without spaces, so words are treated one by one.
Why does ㄱ appear as g in one place and k in another?
In Revised Romanization ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ are written g, d, b before a vowel and k, t, p at the end of a syllable or before another consonant, so 국 is guk and 학교 is hakgyo.
Is this suitable for official documents?
Names on passports follow their own rules and personal preferences, so use the spelling given in the official document. Use this tool for study and general reading.