New Technologies and AI as Tools for Understanding the Koreas

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.95.15

Keywords:

machine translation, weak AI, ChatGPT, Korean to English translation, South Korean standard language p’yojunŏ, North Korean standard language munhwaŏ, Digital Humanities, National Institute of Korean language, romanization of Korean

Abstract

Currently, new information about various tools using weak AI, their benefits and risks is constantly emerging. Many of the tools that can be used by Koreanists when working with texts have these technologies already firmly embedded in them. The goal of this article is to test the capabilities of several machine translation APIs, supplemented by translation using GenAI tool ChatGPT 3.5. The test was carried out mainly on a sample of South Korean and North Korean newspaper texts to identify the main problem in machine translation of Korean texts. Furthermore, the article focuses on other textual tools available to Korean scholars, such as dictionaries, corpora, and other resources provided by the National Institute of Korean language and Pusan National University tools such as the speller checker, pronunciation speller etc. and describes its potential and reliability.

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Author Biography

  • Blanka Ferklová, Palacký University Olomouc

    An Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Art, Palacky University in Olomouc. She graduated from Charles University in Prague with a degree in Korean Studies. She received a Master´s Degree in Korean studies, Czech Language and Literature and Pedagogy, and her PhD in Asian Languages, specializing in Korean. Her research interests include the modern Korean language, especially lexicology and word formation, with a special focus on Korean ideophones and iconicity in the Korean language. Other research interests are new approaches to the acquisition of the Korean language and its translation.

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Published

13-06-2025

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Section

Language and Literature

How to Cite

“New Technologies and AI As Tools for Understanding the Koreas”. 2025. Politeja 22 (1(95): 253-76. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.95.15.