Consonant table
Chapter 2, Article 2 divides consonants into plosives, affricates, fricatives, nasals and liquids, and sets a spelling for each.
| Type | Hangul → Roman |
|---|---|
| Plosives | ㄱ g, k · ㄲ kk · ㅋ k · ㄷ d, t · ㄸ tt · ㅌ t · ㅂ b, p · ㅃ pp · ㅍ p |
| Affricates | ㅈ j · ㅉ jj · ㅊ ch |
| Fricatives | ㅅ s · ㅆ ss · ㅎ h |
| Nasals | ㄴ n · ㅁ m · ㅇ ng |
| Liquid | ㄹ r, l |
Only four consonants have two romanizations in the table: ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ and ㄹ. All others are written the same way wherever they appear. The tense ("doubled") consonants ㄲ·ㄸ·ㅃ·ㅉ·ㅆ are written kk·tt·pp·jj·ss, and the aspirated consonants ㅋ·ㅌ·ㅍ·ㅊ are k·t·p·ch.
ㄱ·ㄷ·ㅂ — g·d·b before a vowel, k·t·p before a consonant or at the end
Note 1 states that 'ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ' are written 'g, d, b' before a vowel, and 'k, t, p' before a consonant or at the end of a word. The regulation's examples are:
- Before a vowel: 구미 Gumi, 영동 Yeongdong, 백암 Baegam
- Before a consonant or at the end: 옥천 Okcheon, 합덕 Hapdeok, 호법 Hobeop, 월곶 Wolgot, 벚꽃 beotkkot ("cherry blossom"), 한밭 Hanbat
Note that 백암 is Baegam, not Baekam. The final ㄱ (a batchim, or final consonant, of 백) moves over to the empty ㅇ slot of the next syllable (liaison), so it becomes a ㄱ before a vowel and is written g. By contrast, the ㄱ in 옥천 comes before the consonant ㅊ, so it is k. In other words, even the same letter ㄱ is spelled according to where it is pronounced.
Final consonants use seven representative sounds
Korean final consonants (batchim) are pronounced as only seven sounds: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ and ㅇ. Since romanization follows standard pronunciation, a final consonant always ends in one of seven: k, n, t, l, m, p or ng.
- Final ㅋ·ㄲ → k: 부엌 bueok ("kitchen"), 밖 bak ("outside")
- Final ㅅ·ㅆ·ㅈ·ㅊ·ㅌ·ㅎ → t: 옷 ot ("clothes"), 월곶 Wolgot, 벚꽃 beotkkot, 한밭 Hanbat
- Final ㅍ → p: 앞 ap ("front"), 숲 sup ("forest")
In 벚꽃, the spelled ㅈ and ㅊ are both pronounced with the representative final sound [ㄷ], giving [벋꼳]. The ㄲ in the tensed [꼳] is ㄲ in the original spelling, so it is written kk. Hence beotkkot.
Double final consonants
A double final consonant is pronounced as only one of its two sounds before a consonant or at the end of a word: 닭 dak ("chicken"), 삶 sam ("life"), 값 gap ("price"), 넋 neok ("soul"), 앉다 [안따] anda ("to sit"), 넓다 [널따] neolda ("to be wide"), 밟다 [밥따] bapda ("to step on"). Before a vowel, the two consonants split and the second one carries over: 닭이 [달기] dalgi, 값이 [갑씨] gapsi. The converter's syllable mapping marks these as the 'Double final consonants' rule.
ㄹ — r before a vowel, l before a consonant or at the end, ll for ㄹㄹ
Note 2 states that 'ㄹ' is written 'r' before a vowel and 'l' before a consonant or at the end of a word. However, 'ㄹㄹ' is written 'll'.
- r before a vowel: 구리 Guri, 설악 Seorak (the final ㄹ carries over and becomes r)
- l before a consonant or at the end: 칠곡 Chilgok, 임실 Imsil
- ㄹㄹ is ll: 울릉 Ulleung, 대관령 [대괄령] Daegwallyeong
대관령 has only one ㄹ in its spelling, but lateralization (ㄴ turning into [ㄹ] before ㄹ) makes it [대괄령], and the pronounced ㄹㄹ is written ll. The opposite also happens, where ㄹ turns into ㄴ (종로 [종노] Jongno); this is covered in detail in the sound-change guide.
Common consonant mistakes
- Writing ㅅ as sh: 신라 is often written Shilla and 신촌 Shinchon, but there is no sh in the system. ㅅ is always s: Silla, Sinchon.
- Mixing up ㅈ and ㅊ: ㅈ is j and ㅊ is ch. 청주 Cheongju, 전주 Jeonju.
- Starting ㄱ with k: Under the influence of the old system, 김포 is sometimes written Kimpo, but the current spelling is Gimpo. Gimpo International Airport also uses this English name.
Basis: Romanization of Korean, Chapter 2, Article 2 and Notes 1 and 2. Full text on the National Institute of Korean Language website (checked 2026-09-23).