The Korean Number System
Korean groups digits in sets of four, unlike English which groups in threes (thousands, millions, billions). The key grouping units are man (10,000), eok (100,000,000), jo (1,000,000,000,000), and gyeong (10,000,000,000,000,000). This four-digit grouping is shared with Chinese and Japanese number systems.
Korean vs. English Number Groups
| Number | English | Korean text | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | One thousand | cheon | cheon |
| 10,000 | Ten thousand | il-man | il-man |
| 100,000,000 | One hundred million | il-eok | il-eok |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | One trillion | il-jo | il-jo |
Korean Number Reading Rules
- sip (10), baek (100), cheon (1,000): the prefix 'il' (one) is dropped. Say sip, not il-sip.
- man (10,000), eok, jo: the prefix 'il' is kept. Say il-man, il-eok, il-jo.
- Example: 123,456 = sip-i-man-sam-cheon-sa-baek-o-sip-yuk
Legal Document Format in Korea
In Korean legal documents (contracts, checks), amounts are written as "il-geum [amount] won-jeong" to prevent alteration. For example, ₩3,500,000 is written as "il-geum sam-baek-o-sip-man-won-jeong". The phrase "il-geum" means "the amount of" and "won-jeong" marks the exact sum.
Frequently Asked Questions
10,000 is read as "il-man" in Korean. The Korean number system groups digits in sets of four, using man (10^4), eok (10^8), jo (10^12), and gyeong (10^16) as group markers.
Korean uses groups of four digits based on the unit man (ten-thousand), unlike English's groups of three. This makes 100,000,000 (one hundred million) = il-eok in Korean.
For legal documents in Korea, amounts are written as "il-geum [amount] won-jeong". For example, ₩3,500,000 would be written as "il-geum sambaek-osip-man-won-jeong".