The Hallyu Wave, Sageuk dramas, trot, jibs... what on earth are you talking about?!
If you've ever seen a word, phrase or concept mentioned frequently in regards to the Korean music or entertainment scene and haven't had the faintest clue what it might mean, then you've come to the right place. With this ever growing and regularly updated glossary, KoME hopes to decipher some of these words for you, and explain some of the concepts. Some will be directly related to Korean music, while others will relate to Korea's entertainment scene in general, or to the culture itself.
The glossary is an ongoing project, and some of the more important terms will eventually have longer articles that will explain them in much more detail.
If you have a term you've seen a lot and either don't understand, or do understand and think should be included in this glossary, feel free to contact
Taliana or else post it on the
forum.
#.5 Album
It is not uncommon to see mentions of "1.5" album or "2.5" album and the like. What exactly this #.5 of an album is differs, but it is generally one of two things: a repackaged edition which often includes different album art or photoshoot concept, a few extra tracks, and sometimes extra items, or a mini album that is released between two full studio albums. While not every mini album or repackaged edition is referred to as "#.5", the Korean music scene tends to place a fair amount of emphasis on how many albums an artist has released, and by numbering albums, repackaged editions and mini albums, an easy to see time line is created.
Digital Singles
A digital single is a single, sometimes just one song and sometimes more, that is released for legal download through certain websites. Sometimes this digital single will be available on the artist's official website, other times they are available through sites such as
Naver,
Cyworld and
Daum. Sometimes they are free, other times a small fee may be required.
Jib / Jip
In Korean, there are two words that are often used for album: 앨범, romanised as "aelbeom" or "aelbum", which is the Koreanised version of the English word "album", and 집, romanised as either "jip" or "jib". It is very common to see a new album being called, for example, "2집" or "2nd jib".
Korean Names
In many East Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan and China, a person's name is given with the family name coming first, followed by the personal name. This is in the reverse order to which nearly all Western countries use. There are also three family names which are incredibly common in Korea: Kim, Lee and Park. According to some sources, approximately half of the Korean population hold one of these three family names, with Kim being the most common (approximately 20% of Koreans have that family name!).
Korean Titles
There are many different Korean terms that can be used when referring to people, but here we will go over only some of the most common ones that you are almost certain to run into. Both the romanisation and Hangul are provided.
-sshi, -씨: this is an honorary suffix that can be attached to the end of a person's name. You can attach it to the end of just their given name (Sunho-sshi), or to the end of their full name (Lee Sunho-sshi). You never attach it to only their family name (Lee-sshi). -sshi is used to speak politely to or about anyone at all, no matter if they are of higher, lower or equal status to yourself.
ajumma, 아줌마: means "older/middle-aged woman".
ajusshi, ajeosshi, 아저씨: means "older/middle-aged man".
oppa, 오빠: this is used only by females, and means "older brother". It is also used by females for males who are older than them but not related, or for their boyfriends.
hyung, hyeong, 형: this is used only by males, and means "older brother". It is also used by males for other men who are older than them but not related.
noona, nuna, 누나: this is used only by males, and means "older sister". It is also used by males for females who are older than them but not related.
unnie, eonni, 언니: this is used only by females, and means "older sister". It is also used by females for other females who are older than them but not related.
Military Service
The Korean Constitution mentions four things that form the Four Constitutional Duties of all Korean citizens: military service, paying taxes, receiving education, and working. Korean men, with very few exceptions, are required by law to serve between 22 and 26 months in the military by the time they turn 30 years old. Korean women are exempt from this law, although they may volunteer. For Korean artists and actors, this period of military service heralds a break in their career of at least 2 years, and because of this many of them delay their enlistment date for as long as they can.
Remember, this is an ongoing project, and the glossary will constantly be expanding as new things are added to it. Feedback as well as suggestions for new entries can be left on the
forum.
