While English language signs have been slowly expanding in parks throughout South Korea, there are still many areas that knowing some Korean mountain words can make a world of difference.
While some of these words are rather basic, many are more advanced or those that hikers end up having to learn through osmosis or googling. The words are ordered from simple to more difficult and build upon one another.
So, consider this your quick guide to better understanding the signs and maps around you!
Click here to skip the basics!
– 산: ‘mountain’
“산” -> ‘san’
Starting with the basics: 산 means “mountain”.
Most mountains in South Korea (with few exceptions) are X-Y-산, for example 설악산, 지리산, 오대산.
Today there is some confusion on how mountain names should be written. For example, whether its better to write Mt. Seorak, Seoraksan or Mt. Seoraksan. Colloquially this mountain is known as Seoraksan in Korea, but when speaking with others you might find yourself adding on Mt. just to clarify that this is in fact a mountain – although technically thats grammatically incorrect.
등산: ‘hike’
“등산” -> ‘deung-san’
“등산하다” means to hike. This word appears on signs when referencing hiking courses “등산 코스”, but is most often used when speaking about the activity.
-길: ‘path/road’
“길” -> ‘gil’
Another one of these fundamental characters, like 산, 길 is added to the end of a word to indicate a path or road. Often seen with ‘등산길’ meaning hiking path or 백두대간길 meaning the path for the Baekdudaegan course. This character is seen off the mountain as well, such as 산책길, meaning walking path.
공원: ‘park’
“공원” -> ‘gong-won’
Added to the end of the name of parks, this word is used in a variety of contexts ranging from by itself, for local urban parks or for larger marine or mountain parks. Famous examples include; national parks like 북한산국립공원 and local parks such as Seoul’s 한강공원.
국립공원: ‘national park’
“국립공원” -> kug-rip-gong-won’
There are a many types of parks in South Korea, getting their particular name based on the government agency/level of government that is in charge of managing it. For example, 도립공원 = ‘provincial park’ vs 국립공원 = ‘national park’. The most popular type of park in South Korea are the national parks, with millions of visitors every year. The mountain national parks get there names from combining their largest mountain with ‘국립공원’. For example, ‘설악산국립공원’.
북, 남, 동, 서: ‘north, south, east, west’
“북”, “남”, “동”, “서”-> ‘buk’, ‘nam’, ‘dong’, ‘seo’
Both helpful from a navigation standpoint as well as understanding the province names of South Korea – learning the basic direction words help with a lot of subtle Korean mountain navigation situations.
For example: When hiking in 북한산 (북 – north) along the ridge you will encounter two gates 대동문 and 대남문. Understanding that 동 – east and 남- south, have directional meanings can aid not only in navigation but also making them easier to remember.
Additionally, when considering traveling outside of Seoul for hiking, knowing these words help you understand the difference between 전라남도 and 전라북도 in commuter time. With the later being much closer to Seoul than the former.
삼거리: ‘three-way intersection”
“삼거리” -> ‘sam-geo-ri’
삼거리 and 사거리 (four way intersection) can be frequently seen on maps often with a name placed in front of it. Its a nice word to know when asking for directions – its also the word used on streets when driving.
폭포: ‘waterfall’
“폭포” -> ‘pok-po’
This word is typically put on the end of the name of a waterfall and can be frequently seen on maps.
약수: ‘mountain water’
“약수” -> ‘ak-su’
A less common find on the mountain, but one that almost never has an English translation below it. This word refers to mountain springs, which unless stated otherwise are safe enough to drink. The word has a interesting cultural root with ‘수’ referencing water and ‘약’ meaning medicine.
대피소: ‘shelter’
“대피소” -> ‘dae-pi-so’
Although most mountain shelters now a days are accompanied by English translations – especially in the national parks – some maps leave them out. Shelters tend to have lodging options, or are otherwise large complexes with amenities of some sort.
쉼터: ‘rest area’
“쉼터” -> ‘ swim-teo’
Where 대피소 are often larger complexes, the ‘쉼터’ rest areas are often areas along the trail with benches and or a raised flat platform, sometimes with emergency supplies. They are referred to as ‘안전쉼터’ meaning safety rest area in national parks.
-암 or -사: ‘temple’
“암”, “사” -> ‘am’, ‘sa’
While there is a greater history and cultural distinction between the uses of various temple buildings and their corresponding name whether it be “am”, “sa” or another ending, for functionality sake, any reference to a point on the map that ends in 암 or 사 can be simply known as a temple or temple like structure.
산불: ‘forest fire’
“산불” -> ‘san-bul’
This word broken down into its parts means “산” mountain and “불” fire.
South Korea suffers from particularly dry winters, leading to an increase in forest fires during these months. To combat this problem, national parks place winter time entrance restriction as well as cover their trails with warning signs for “산불”.
정상: ‘peak’
“정상” -> ‘jeong-sang’
This word meaning ‘peak’ is used as a stand alone word. It is common to see phrased such as “북한산 정상 1.2km” or simply “정상 1.2km”, which reference the distance left to the mountain’s peak.
-봉: ‘peak’
“봉” -> ‘bong’
봉 is the Korean character for peak that is added to the name of the peak to reference its status.
This can appear in two different ways.
- In the Back: like ‘산’ it is often added at the end of the name of the peak. For example, 비로봉 is the name of a number of famous mountain’s peaks including 치악산, 팔공산 and 오대산.
- In the Middle: A number of Korean mountains have multiple peaks (8+), that are typically all hiked in a loop or in a row. Often times the name of mountain reflects this, by combining the korean number + 봉 + 산. For Example 구봉산 is a mountain that has nine (구= 9) peaks, and 팔봉산 has eight (팔= 8) peaks.
바위: “rock”
“바위” -> ‘ba-wi”
This word can be used for both an impressively large rock that happens to be on the trail, but more typically like 봉, it is a peak that is atop a large rock formation. Famous examples include; 설악산의 울산바위 and 북한산의 칼바위.
-악: ‘steep mountain’
“악” -> ‘ak’
This Korean character located in the middle position of the name indicates a particular difficulty or steepness to the mountain. Famous examples include; 설악산, 월악산, 삼악산, 치악산… But don’t be fooled, there are plenty of very difficult mountains without this character!
능선: ‘ridge’
“능선” -> ‘neung-seon’
With the most famous example being the Dinosaur Ridge of Seoraksan (공룡능선), this phrase added to the name of ridges can be often seen on maps running parallel to mountain ridge courses as well on signs at the start/end of the ridge.
종주: ‘ridge course’
“종주” -> ‘jong-ju’
Although this word doesn’t appear on maps or signs, it is critical in planning bigger trail hikes. Many of the famous longer courses are know as 종주, which tend to have the start/end points name’s first characters placed in front of 종주.
For Example, Jirisan’s famous ridge line has a variety of start and end options, so the distinction between which exact ridge course was taken can be seen as the following “지리산 성대종주”. This course references that the whole ridge was hiked (종주) with a start point of 성삼재 and end running through 대원사 (사 – temple).
계곡: ‘valley’
“계곡” -> ‘gae-gok”
Often times written on maps as side details rather than a point of interest, this word meaning valley is often associate with moving water (so a point of interest in the summer after a long hot hike). Areas where people might relax next to streams are often named 계곡.
-령 or -재: valley
“령”, “재”-> ‘ryeong’, ‘jae’
Whether the name ends in 령 or 재, these valley points tend to be on trails and do not reference a valley leading to the base of the mountain, but rather a saddle with the lowest point earning this title. While they are often encountered while navigating normal hikes, if you are completing the Baedudaegan hiking course, they are points of interest that mark intersections with commuter roads and well as GPS check in points for credit in the challenge.
해발: ‘elevation’
“해발” -> ‘hae-bal’
Whether it be on the peak stone or one of the numerous columns located along the trail with safety information, 해발 can be seen followed by your current elevation.
Happy Trekking!
-Aurora K
