The Seoul city government has decided to use terminology for its administrative duties that do not include words borrowed from foreign languages or newly coined words.

The Seoul city government signed an agreement to use the proper and correct form of the Korean language for public purposes. The arrangement was made with the National Institute of the Korean Language and other groups that promote the Korean language, including one run by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). It said it would strengthen communication by expressing its policies in words that are easy to understand.

For that purpose, it will add software to its computer programs with which they prepare official documents that automatically corrects terminology which are unsuitable to its new goal. For instance, a moving sidewalk will be called an “automatic road” and Bancassurance will be corrected to the term “Bank-linked insurance.”

The city government will, in collaboration with an institute specializing in Korean, monitor how correct the language is on its official Web site. It also plans to make it mandatory to use proper terminology prior to deliberating the names of key projects.