Where we do use Romanisation, should we prefer a particular type of Romanisation?

Question

In the meta question Should we set some preferred standards for usage of romanization?, we expressed a strong preference for avoiding the use of any Romanisation in answers where possible.

However, in some cases, it will seem sensible to use Romanisation - e.g. if we're answering a question asked by a beginner on non-Korean speaker who doesn't seem comfortable with Hangul, or perhaps in some cases when discussing pronunciation.

In these cases, should we prefer a particular type of Romanisation?

Answer 1

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Romanization_of_Korean

Currently, this is the official Romanization method of Hangeul. It takes place of the McCune-Reischauer Romanization, which the now common way of writing Kim, Lee, Choi, and Park was based on.

There are a lot of differences in terms of writing between the two Romanization methods, but you don't have to be afraid of the revised one, since it was made based on how Hangeul words actually sound like in Korean.

The Revised Romanization method is what Korean middle school students learn in grammer class, and is the offitial standard for all the Korean street signs.

However, one thing will stay the same: the way Korean surnames are written. This is probably because changing the way names are written would bring forth a lot of confusion, such as the revision of all passports.... X(

Answer 2

I'm happy with the idea that Revised Romanisation could be what experienced users aim to reach for 'by default' in their own posts.

I also think there are a number of potential exceptions, including...

• Names, as mentioned in J. Y. Park's answer
• Questions that are themselves about Romanisation systems
• Posts where people are attempting to use the Latin alphabet to give their own impression of phonetics (although in such cases, it's good to be aware of the phonetic alphabet)
• Posts that are referencing another source that uses a different Romanisation. In those cases, it will be confusing if that diverges from the original, even if the difference is a correction.

... and there may be others. In general, I think we should use our judgement where correcting Romanisation, or requiring people to use a certain form - we can change it where it really helps but I think that making sure that 한글 is present and correct probably serves the site better than worrying about every case of non-standard Romanisation.