For Development of Korean Language

The Linguistics Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences, the successor to the Society for Korean Language Research founded in February 1947, sets it as its mission to preserve, inherit and develop the time-honoured history, purity, unitary character and excellent qualities of the Korean language, and study and give solutions to the problems arising in the use of refined and cultured language.

The institute consists of several labs which major in linguistics theory, linguistics history, grammar, applied linguistics, experimental phonetics, toponymy and lexicography.

It has made a tangible contribution to the development of the national language by conducting research into further developing and enriching the linguistic cultural heritage associated with the outstanding resourcefulness and creative talents of the Korean nation in line with the demands of the times.

A typical example is the “Collection of Korean Linguistics” (60 volumes in all), which incorporates the research findings in the country’s linguistics sector. It describes in a profound and comprehensive way the Juche-oriented linguistic ideology, the policy of the Workers’ Party of Korea on language, history of the Korean language, history of the Korean people’s alphabetic life, history of Korean linguistics theory, grammatical theory, stylistics, dialectics, etc.

The researchers of the institute have made uninterrupted efforts to compile dictionaries and write books helpful to improving the linguistic life throughout society and learning the Korean language among working people.

Following the compilation of “Pocket Dictionary of Korean Language” for the first time in Juche 44 (1955), they produced such dictionaries as “Modern Korean Dictionary”, “Dictionary of Cultured Korean Language”, “Dialect Dictionary”, “Dictionary of Idioms and Proverbs”, “Dictionary of Korean Synonyms”, “Dictionary on Frequency of Korean Language”, “Comprehensive Korean Dictionary”, etc.

They also brought out “Study of Korean Language Intonation”, “Study of Korean Language Notation”, “Stylistics of Korean Language”, “Theory of Automatic Interpretation of Korean Sentences” and other books.

They are now focusing on developing various kinds of e-dictionaries, while intensifying research into clarifying the national characteristics of the Korean language such as ancient place names and metrics and phonemics.