Korean is an important business language in defence industry, automotive and electronics partnerships. mots Tercüme translates technical documents, contracts, project documentation and corporate correspondence between Korean and Turkish.
The Hangul alphabet
Korean is written in the Hangul alphabet and, unlike Chinese and Japanese, spaces are left between words. For that reason the measurement of volume, in characters or in words, is determined at the start of the job.
Level of respect
In Korean, sentence endings change according to the relationship between the writer and the reader. In a corporate document the formal and respectful level is the rule.
Industrial partnerships
In joint projects in the defence and automotive fields, technical specifications, test procedures and project reports go back and forth between Korean and English. The terminology list is kept in three languages together.
Date format
Korean dates are written in the order year, month, day. When carried over into Turkish, the date is converted to the Turkish order of day, month, year, and the name of the month is written in words if needed.
Company names
Korean companies use a name in Latin letters alongside the official Korean name. In a legal document the official name prevails; the business name is given beside it.
Spelling of names
In Korean personal names the surname comes first, and different systems may be used for spelling in Latin letters. The spelling in the passport or on the business card is taken as the basis.
Technical terms
In Korean technical texts, terms borrowed from English are written phonetically in Hangul. When the Turkish equivalent is chosen, the organisation's terminology list is taken as the basis.
Short and dense expressions
Korean technical documents usually use short, noun-heavy expressions. When they are carried over into Turkish, the meaning of these expressions is opened out into a full sentence.
Project reports
In joint projects, interim reports and minutes of meetings are translated on a regular basis. In these jobs the translation memory preserves the terms of the earlier reports.
Words of Chinese origin
Words of Chinese origin are used heavily in Korean technical and legal language. Because the meaning of these words can change with the context, the terminology list is set up at the outset.
Training and technology transfer
In joint production projects, training documents and procedures are translated as part of technology transfer. In these documents the step numbers and warning statements are preserved exactly as in the source.
From Korean into Turkish
In a Korean sentence the verb comes last; this is a structure close to Turkish. The closeness is a convenience, but how the forms of respect are to be rendered in Turkish is considered separately.
When certification is needed
South Korea is a party to the Apostille Convention. For documents to be submitted to a Korean authority, the sworn translation and apostille chain is planned at the start of the job.
Services requested together
Korean jobs most often come together with technical translation, terminology management and multilingual project coordination.
Summary
In Korean corporate translation long-running projects are in the majority. Keeping the terminology list in three languages together preserves consistency until the end of the project.