Specialized Korean vocabulary: Economics

Now that my speech contest is over I once more have time to actually study Korean. Oh, how I missed it! Not that I didn’t study over the past few weeks. But to once more be able to consume limitless amounts of Korean content without (at least for a while) worrying about pronunciation, intonation, and other things that give me away as a non-native speaker is amazing.

I’m back on track with my language partner following our meticulously laid out schedule. A new feature at our meetings is the introduction of TEDtalks and 세바시 videos that we watch together and then discuss in English/Korean respectively. Yesterday was “newspaper day” meaning that we had selected an article for the other one to read and discuss. He clearly had my main job as an economist in mind when he assigned me with an article titled: 수출 부진보다 더 심각한 ‘소비 침체 장기화’ “More so than the export crisis, the severe consumer depression appears to be prolonged”. I agree that it is an advantage to know the specialized vocab of your own specific field so I was happy to study with this article.

Here are some of the econ-related words that I’d like to share here on the blog. These are expressions that appear frequently in Korean newspapers, so I hope you may also find them useful!

장기화하다 Be prolonged

자유무역협정 Free trade agreement

더 큰 화를 부른다 Bring an even bigger disaster

부작용 Side-effect

지원책 Supporting measures

전년동월 This month last year

단가 Unit price

단기처방으로 해결할 수 있는 일이 아니다 This is not solved with a quick-fix

민간소비 Private consumption

노동시장 Labor market

가계소득 Household income

제조업 Manufacturing

증가율 Rate of increase

직시하다 To face (someone or a situation)

원화가치 The value of the Korean Won

경쟁력 Competitiveness

장기침체 Long-term depression