"You have coffee, right?" The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announces the 30th term of "public language in need of improvement."

*This content was translated by AI.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young) and the National Institute of the Korean Language (hereinafter referred to as the Korean Language) announced the results of the Public Language Public Survey in Need of Improvement on the 12th to understand the use of public languages in the multimedia era and seek directions for improvement. The term 'public language' refers to all languages used by public institutions for the public, in a narrow way, for an unspecified number of people, such as newspapers, broadcasting, and unmanned automation devices (kiosks).

From December 24 to 30, 2025, the survey was conducted on 3,000 men and women aged 14 to 79 across the country, and the survey questions were based on 30 difficult vocabulary and incorrect expressions often encountered in media that affect people's language life such as broadcasting, media, and the Nuri Communication Network (SNS).

As a result of the survey, 61.8% of respondents said "I think we need to change" to a total of 30 difficult vocabulary words and incorrect expressions, and overall, many said that they should use easy and correct words. In particular, there was a high demand for improvement, with more than 70% of respondents saying that more than 80% of 13 items and five of them should be changed.

The items that showed the highest response to improvement were "excessive expressions of height", such as "That product is out of stock" and "Coffee is out of stock," and 93.3% of the respondents said they should change it. Items that showed a high percentage of respondents who said they needed improvement were varied by area, such as grammar errors, inappropriate vocabulary use, and discrimination and hate expression.

After excessive high-pitched expressions, many respondents said that one of the grammar errors, 'do-do-do' confusion (90.2%), should be improved. In addition, the public cited errors in the use of "keep in mind" (74.8%) and confusion (71.2%) as items that need improvement. Then, well over 70% of respondents said that hate and discrimination expressions such as "-chung (87.1%)" and "suffering disabilities (78.7%) should be improved.

Details on the selected expressions and usage can be found on the National Institute of the Korean Language and the website for easy Korean use.

The survey was conducted to resolve the people's linguistic inconvenience caused by the continued indiscriminate foreign language, discriminatory expressions, and grammar errors in the media, broadcasting, and YouTube.

In order to secure objective basic data, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Language Institute selected the final survey items through various verification procedures and analyzed the results. First, a list of basic candidates was formed by focusing on major media with great public influence and online question-and-answer at the National Institute of the Korean Language. In an advisory meeting involving media, academia, and civic groups, 30 final candidates were selected and a survey was conducted on 3,000 people. In particular, the survey items and results were discussed before and after the survey at the Korean Language Purification Subcommittee of the Korean Language Council to secure the objectivity of the survey and prepare a list that meets the needs of the people.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Language Institute will promote a large-scale campaign to improve public awareness (campaign) based on the "30 public languages in need of improvement." In addition to "Easy Korean Resolution Continuing Challenge" involving famous cultural artists, the company plans to produce and distribute short videos (shorts, reels, etc.) familiar to the younger generation to inform the importance of using the correct Korean language. In addition, the National Institute of the Korean Language will operate a "Public Language, Broadcast Language Improvement People's Report" bulletin board on its website so that people can directly report cases of wrong language in daily life, and the reported content will be actively reflected in future policy establishment after deliberation.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Language Institute plan to continue their efforts to discover and improve difficult words so that the people can communicate comfortably in their daily lives.

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*This content was translated by AI.