The Konglish often seen around Korea I always find humorous, but the Seoul city government has launched a crackdown to try and fix many of its signs:
On left, an English sign referring to a public stage in front of Seoul City Hall is wrongly translated as “Vitality Charging Station.” On right, “Muggyo Annex,” nearby the hall’s entrance, is misspelled as “Emuggyo Annex.” / Korea Times photo by Hong Dam-young, Lee Jin-a
The Seoul City government recently launched an ambitious project to crack down on errors in English-language signs. But maybe they should take a look at their own building first.
Walking around Seoul City Hall, reporters from The Korea Times spotted several errors in English-language signs.
The first sign that caught their attention was “Vitality Charging Station” at an information display kiosk on the first floor. Referring to a public stage in front of the building, the English wrongly translated the original meaning.
One of the reporters asked a passing Canadian if he could guess the meaning of “Vitality Charging Station.” He thought for a while and said: “I think it means ‘battery’ or ‘male stamina.’
It’s the best guess I can make. I’m not sure what it means, though.” [Korea Times]
