Is the Chinese character 的 (적) destroying the Korean language?

ANSWER: Maybe not, but Koreans do seem to use it too much.

In his book “우리글 바로쓰기,” the late writer and author Lee O-deok (이오덕) mentioned six Chinese characters that he believed were destroying the Korean language: 的(적), 化(화), 下(하), 再(재), 諸(제), and 對(대).

I disagree with some of what Mr. Lee wrote about the six Chinese characters, but I do think Koreans use 적 (的) way too much. The following is an example from Mr. Lee’s book in which 적 was used five times in just one short sentence in a 1989 Hankyoreh (한겨래) newspaper article talking about a painting:

이 대작은 ‘형식적으로는 추상적이나 내용적으로는 표현주의적’인 추상표현주의 화가의 작품 세계를 단적으로 보여 준다.

Here is Mr. Lee’s rewrite of the sentence:

이 큰 작품은 ‘형식으로는 추상(화)이나 내용으로는 표현주의’인 추상표현주의 화가의 작품 세계를 바로 보여 준다.

Notice that 적 does not appear even once in Mr. Lee’s rewrite of the sentence. Why? Because it is unnecessary. Even 단적(端的)으로 was reduced from a 4-syllable phrase to a 2-syllable one by using the pure Korean word 바로 instead.

However, notice that Mr. Lee also changed “이 대작은” to “이 큰 작품은.” This is one of the times where I disagree with Mr. Lee because 대작 (大作) translates as “a great work” or “masterpiece,” but 큰 작품 could also refer to the physical size of the work, making its meaning less clear.

Anyway, there is a movement in Korea to try to eliminate Chinese characters, or at least as many as possible, from the Korean language, similar to what was done in North Korea, but Mr. Lee did not seem to be that extreme. Here seemed to want to get rid of only the Chinese characters that were unnecessary or that were making it harder for Koreans to understand their own language. For example, he wondered why some Koreans would choose to use the difficult to pronounce and understand 의의(意義) instead of the simpler pure Korean word 뜻. He suggested that some Koreans use difficult words just to show off instead of speaking and writing in the clearest way possible.

Mr. Lee essentially believed that Koreans should write the way they speak, and speak the way they live.

You can click on the 미리보기 (Preview) button on the linked page HERE to get an idea of what Mr. Lee wrote about in his Korean book.