Korean language translator in Tbilisi

Korean translation in Georgia has been one of the fastest-growing directions of the last decade, and its reasons are quite specific: the South Korean government's GKS scholarship programme, through which Georgian students go to the universities of Seoul, Yonsei, Korea and KAIST; the import of Korean cars, one of the largest segments of the Georgian market; the hydropower and infrastructure projects of Korean companies in Georgia; the seasonal work programme in Korean agriculture and fisheries; and the Korean cultural wave, which has raised a generation of Georgians learning Korean. We translate from Korean into Georgian and from Georgian into Korean, notarise the translation and attach the apostille at the House of Justice. On this page we explain what makes Korea's documentary system different: a family relation certificate instead of a birth certificate, a seal and a signature at the same time, hangul, in which one and the same Georgian name is written three ways, and an apostille that is divided between two ministries.

There is no birth certificate in Korea: the family relation register

The first thing we clarify for a Georgian client: South Korea does not issue a birth certificate in the European sense. Since 2008, when the old family register (호적) was abolished, every civil act is recorded in the family relation register (가족관계등록부), and several kinds of certificate are issued from it: the family relation certificate (가족관계증명서), which lists the person, their parents, spouse and children; the basic certificate (기본증명서), with birth, citizenship and name changes; and the marriage relation certificate (혼인관계증명서), with the history of marriages and divorces. A Georgian authority asks for a "birth certificate", and its function is performed by the basic certificate and the family relation certificate together, both with a translation and a note that in the Korean system this is the equivalent of a birth certificate. One more detail: these certificates are issued in a "general" and a "detailed" (상세) version, and for a Georgian authority where the history of a divorce or a name change matters, the detailed version is needed; we clarify this before the order so that the client requests the right version from Korea.

The apostille in Korea: two ministries and the electronic apostille

South Korea has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since 2007, and the issuing of the apostille is divided between two ministries: on court and notarial documents, including notarised translations and copies, the apostille is attached by the Ministry of Justice, on all other state documents, family relation certificates, diplomas, certificates, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Korea has something few countries have: an electronic apostille, which is obtained online and verified by a QR code, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' apostille centre in Seoul, where many documents are ready the same day. What matters for a Georgian client is that a Korean university diploma and mark sheet count as a state document only if the university has registered them in the apostille system; otherwise a Korean notary certifies them first, then the Ministry of Justice. In the opposite direction everything is simple: a Georgian document for Korea receives the apostille at the House of Justice, which we carry out within the order.

Who comes to us for Korean translation

• GKS scholarship holders and self-funded students at Seoul National, Yonsei, Korea, KAIST, Sungkyunkwan and Hanyang universities
• Participants in the seasonal work (E-8) and non-professional employment (E-9) programmes and their families
• Engineers, IT specialists and Georgian employees of Korean companies, both in Georgia and in Korea
• Georgian-Korean families: marriage, registration of a child in both countries, divorce, inheritance
• Importers of Korean cars, who need export certificates and transaction documents in Georgian
• Georgian wine, hazelnut and tourism companies with Korean partners
• Korean companies, KOICA and cultural centres working on energy, water and education projects in Georgia

Hangul in translation: three variants for one Georgian name

The Korean alphabet, hangul, was created in the 15th century and works on a phonetic principle, but some Georgian sounds do not exist in it: Korean has no distinction between r and l in one position, has no v, f and z sounds, and consonant clusters are limited by the syllable structure. So a Georgian name is written in Korean in several ways: Giorgi can be 기오르기 or 게오르기, Nino 니노, Tamari 타마르 or 타마리. A Korean authority, the immigration service, a university or a bank, registers the name once, and a second form is a different person to it. So we ask the Georgian client for their alien registration card (외국인등록증), student card or any Korean document where their name is already written in hangul, and keep the same form. In the opposite direction a Korean name goes into Georgian by the official romanisation system and the Latin record of the passport: 김 is Kim in the passport, although by the 2000 system it should be Gim, and in the translation we keep the passport form, not the systemic one. Korean official text is loaded with terms of Chinese origin (한자어), which are often clarified in brackets in hanja, Chinese characters, especially in names and legal terms; our translators read both.

Seal and signature: the 인감 and its certificate

In Korea an official document is confirmed by a signature or a registered seal (인감), and in a real estate, car or company share transaction the seal registration certificate (인감증명서) is mandatory, issued by the municipality and valid for three months. Since 2012 a signature registration certificate (본인서명사실확인서) exists as an alternative to the seal, and both systems work in parallel. A Georgian notary who sees a Korean power of attorney or contract does not perceive a red seal in the place of a signature, and in the translation's note we explain that a registered seal in the Korean legal system is the equivalent of a signature, and we translate the seal certificate too. In the import of Korean cars this is especially frequent: the vehicle export certificate (자동차 말소등록증) and the transaction documents are certified with the seller's seal, and for Georgian customs and the Service Agency every field of the document, from the identification number to the seal certificate, must be transferred exactly.

Residence in Korea: visa codes, HiKorea and the immigration service

Residence in Korea works by visa categories (체류자격), which have a letter and a number: D-2 student, D-4 language learner, E-7 specialist, E-8 seasonal worker, E-9 non-professional worker, F-6 spouse of a Korean, F-2 and F-5 long-term residence. Each category has its own list of documents, and almost every Georgian document, a diploma, mark sheet, criminal record certificate, marriage and birth certificates, financial certificate, goes with an apostille and a Korean or English translation. The Korean immigration service (출입국·외국인청) and the embassy in Tbilisi are especially strict about the criminal record certificate: it must have an apostille and a translation and usually must not be older than three months from issue. Residence matters in Korea are handled online, through the HiKorea portal, and many applications are sent by alien registration card number; the translation of Georgian documents is uploaded to this system as a PDF, and we format the translation so that on upload the apostille, the original and the translation read as one document. The seasonal work programme is a separate case: in it Georgian municipalities cooperate directly with Korean municipalities, and the participant's document package, including the health certificate, is prepared as a whole and on deadline.

Education documents: GKS, GPA 4.5 and 졸업증명서

GKS (Global Korea Scholarship), formerly KGSP, is the Korean government's scholarship programme, which in Georgia runs through the embassy and university tracks, and the application requires an English or Korean translation of the diploma, mark sheet, recommendations and medical certificate, with apostille and notarisation already at the application stage, not only after admission; this distinguishes GKS from other scholarship programmes and requires planning of time. A Korean university issues, along with the diploma, a certificate of graduation (졸업증명서) and a certificate of marks (성적증명서), often in English too, and the Korean GPA is usually counted on a 4.5 scale, not 4.0, which needs a separate note for a Georgian authority, or a 4.2 average is read as unrealistic on the 4.0 scale. Recognition of a Georgian diploma in Korea is not handled by a centralised authority, it is the business of the university and the employer, and for them the diploma, the supplement and the description of the curriculum are translated into English or Korean. One practical detail: Korean universities often require that the mark sheet be in the university's sealed envelope, and we prepare the translation so that it is placed in the envelope together with the original.

Marriage and family: 혼인신고 and a child's two citizenships

In Korea a marriage is formalised by submitting a marriage notification (혼인신고) at the municipality, and the foreign partner must present a certificate that under the law of their country there is no impediment to the marriage (혼인요건구비증명서). The Georgian certificate of marital status, birth certificate and, in the case of a previous marriage, the divorce document are prepared with an apostille and a Korean translation; for the F-6 visa the embassy additionally requires the Georgian partner's criminal record certificate and health certificate, and sometimes proof of basic knowledge of Korean. The birth of a child in a Georgian-Korean family concerns two systems: the child enters the Korean parent's register by a birth notification (출생신고), while for Georgia the child's basic certificate and family relation certificate go with an apostille and our Georgian translation to the consulate or the House of Justice. Korea allows dual citizenship by birth under certain conditions, while for a Korean man military obligation concerns every citizenship decision, and this is something for a Georgian parent to consider in advance.

The Korean documents we translate most often

• Family relation register certificates: 가족관계증명서, 기본증명서, 혼인관계증명서, general and detailed versions
• Resident registration extract (주민등록등본) and alien registration certificate
• Seal registration certificate (인감증명서) and signature registration certificate
• Certificates of graduation and marks (졸업증명서, 성적증명서), diploma, TOPIK language certificate
• Criminal record certificate (범죄경력회보서), which Korea issues to foreigners too
• Tax certificates (소득금액증명, 납세증명서) and National Pension Service documents, including the lump-sum refund application
• Court decisions and family court rulings in divorce, guardianship and inheritance cases
• Company registration extract (법인등기부등본), articles of incorporation (정관), business registration certificate (사업자등록증)
• Vehicle export and deregistration documents

Business with Korea: the 주식회사, the business registration certificate and cars

A Korean joint-stock company (주식회사, jusik hoesa) and limited company (유한회사) are registered in the register held at the court, and the corporate extract (법인등기부등본) is the most frequently translated document for the Georgian Public Registry and a bank. With it almost always comes the business registration certificate (사업자등록증), a tax document with a ten-digit number, which in Korea is used as the company's "passport" and which has no exact analogue in the Georgian system; in the translation a functional explanation is attached to it. The import of Korean cars into Georgia is a field of its own: the export certificate, the deregistration certificate, the invoice and the seal certificate are translated for Georgian customs and the Service Agency, and here not a single letter of the VIN code, engine number and owner's details may change. Korean hydropower and water projects in Georgia, KOICA programmes and the tender proposals of Korean companies move in English, but the contractors' internal documents, technical standards (KS) and Korean bank guarantees are translated directly from Korean. In the export of Georgian wine the Korean market is new and demanding, and the Korean translation of labels, certificates and customs documents must meet the rules of Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).

The national pension and the lump-sum refund

A Georgian working in Korea pays contributions into the national pension system (국민연금), and on finally leaving the country, if the social security agreement between Georgia and Korea covers this category, can claim a lump-sum refund of contributions (반환일시금). This application is often sent already from Georgia, and it needs Georgian documents with a Korean translation: passport, bank account certificate, certificate of residence in Georgia, sometimes a power of attorney for a representative who stayed in Korea. In the opposite direction the National Pension Service's certificate of service and contributions, the health insurance (국민건강보험) certificate and the employer's certificate of employment are translated into Georgian for Georgia's Pension Agency and a bank. For participants in the seasonal work programme these documents repeat at the end of every season, and we prepare them as a standard package.

Typical mistakes in Korean translation

When checking other people's translations the same mistakes repeat: translating the family relation certificate as a "birth certificate" without a note, or translating the general version where the detailed one was needed; a new hangul spelling of a Georgian name when another form is already registered in the Korean documents; writing a Korean surname by systemic romanisation (Gim, Bak) instead of the passport form (Kim, Park); reading the GPA 4.5 scale as 4.0; omitting the seal certificate in transaction documents; a one-character error in the VIN code or engine number in a car document, after which customs does not accept the document; translating a criminal record certificate older than three months; looking for an apostille on a diploma at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the university did not register it in the system and a notary is needed; and translating the business registration certificate as a "company extract". Each of these points is on our checklist, and the editor checks every Korean translation against this list.

What sets our Korean translation apart

• Translators who studied or worked in Korea and know the formats of family relation register, HiKorea and university documents
• The hangul form always compared with the client's already registered documents, Korean names by passport romanisation
• Knowledge of the requirements of GKS and the visa categories, with apostille and deadlines
• Exact transfer of the fields of car, corporate and pension documents, including the seal certificate
• Notarisation by a translator registered in the Georgian-Korean pair and the apostille at the House of Justice in one order
• A standard personal document in 1 working day, by express in 1-2 hours, the process fully remote, from Seoul too, with the time difference taken into account

Frequently asked questions