Korea fights to rid itself of Konglish

With its combination of Korean and English words – often abbreviated or mispronounced – Konglish is a youth slang that can leave young people incomprehensible to older generations.

Now South Korea’s prime minister has promised a crackdown on the use of English words and phrases in a country whose pride in its national language is closely tied up with its history of colonisation by China and Japan.

In a message on Hangul day, a celebration of the introduction of the country’s unique Hangul script by King Sejong in 1446, Kim Boo-kyum, the prime minister, said: “The government will continue its efforts to reduce the use of unnecessary foreign words.”