Korean Translation
Certified Korean
Document Translation
Certified Korean document translation for medical and treatment records, civil and family registry records, legal exhibits and academic credentials, with one romanisation of each name fixed against the identity document and held across the whole filing.
What is certified Korean translation, and why does the name spelling matter?
Certified Korean translation is a complete translation of a Korean-language document paired with a signed certificate of accuracy naming the translator, formatted for the court, agency or hospital that will receive it. The name spelling matters more in Korean than in most languages because one surname has several defensible romanisations: Lee, Yi and Rhee are the same name, Park and Bak are the same name, and the two standard romanisation systems disagree with each other while a passport may disagree with both. Kaplan fixes the spelling against the person's identity document and holds it across every document in the packet, reads hanja rather than approximating it in older civil records, and treats a pre-2008 hojeok family registry extract as its own document type rather than reshaping it to match the current certificate.
Korean Translation
Medical and Clinical Records
Patient instructions, discharge summaries, consent forms, imaging and laboratory reports, and the treatment records that go into an injury or disability claim. Korean clinical material is where most of our translation volume sits, and it is read by a patient or a reviewer rather than admired, so it is translated for comprehension and then checked against the source for anything a clinician would notice.
Korean Translation
Civil and Family Registry Records
Birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates, plus the pre-2008 hojeok family registry extracts that Korean immigration packets still require alongside the current certificates. The two systems look nothing like each other, and a translator who has not handled both tends to flatten the older record into a shape it never had.
Korean Translation
Legal and Corporate Documents
Contracts, corporate records, patents and exhibits for Korean-party litigation and transactions, with defined terms fixed once and held across the whole production. Korean corporate work clusters in electronics, automotive parts, shipping and consumer goods, so the vocabulary is technical before it is legal.
Korean Translation
Academic and Employment Records
Transcripts, diplomas, licences and employment records for credential evaluation, visa petitions and hiring. Korean institutions issue documents in formats that evaluators expect to see presented a particular way, and the grading scales do not map one to one, so the translation states what the source says rather than converting it.
Why Kaplan
Built for Korean Document Accuracy
One Romanisation, Held Across the Packet
A Korean name has several defensible spellings in English. Lee, Yi and Rhee are the same surname; so are Park and Bak, and Choi and Choe. Revised Romanization and McCune-Reischauer disagree with each other, and a passport may disagree with both. We fix the spelling once, match it to whatever the person's identity document already says, and hold it across every document in the filing. Changing it halfway through a packet is what makes a reviewer stop and ask.
Hanja Read, Not Guessed
Older Korean civil records carry Chinese characters alongside or instead of Hangul, particularly in names and place names. A translator who cannot read hanja will approximate, and an approximated name on a birth certificate is the kind of thing that surfaces late. Documents with hanja go to linguists who read it.
The Pre-2008 Registry Handled As Its Own Thing
Korea replaced the hojeok family registry in 2008, so a petition that reaches back more than a generation needs both the current certificate and the older extract. They are structured differently and carry different fields. We translate each as what it is rather than forcing the old record into the new form.
Certified for the Body That Receives It
Every translation carries a signed certificate of accuracy naming the translator, and we format it for the court, agency or hospital that will receive it. For USCIS filings the certification format is the part that gets rejected when it is wrong, so we confirm the receiving body before work begins rather than after.
FAQs
Common Questions
What is certified Korean translation, and why does the name spelling matter?
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Certified Korean translation is a complete translation of a Korean-language document paired with a signed certificate of accuracy naming the translator, formatted for the body that will receive it. The name spelling matters more in Korean than most languages because a single surname has several defensible romanisations: Lee, Yi and Rhee are the same name, as are Park and Bak, and the two standard systems disagree with each other. If a packet spells one person two ways, a reviewer has to decide whether they are looking at one person or two. We fix the spelling against the identity document and hold it across the filing.
Can you translate a Korean family registry or pre-2008 hojeok record?
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Yes, and it is worth telling us which one you have. Korea replaced the hojeok family registry system in 2008, so records issued before and after look substantially different and carry different fields. Immigration petitions that reach back a generation often need both. We translate each in the form it was actually issued rather than reshaping the older extract to match the newer certificate.
Do your Korean translators read hanja?
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The ones we assign to older civil records do. Hanja, the Chinese characters used in Korean, appears in older birth and family records, especially in names and place names. A translator who cannot read it will approximate, and an approximated name on a civil record is a problem that shows up at review rather than at delivery. Documents containing hanja are routed accordingly.
Do you translate Korean medical records for an injury or disability claim?
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Yes, and it is the largest share of our Korean translation work. Patient instructions, discharge summaries, imaging and laboratory reports and treatment records, translated for comprehension where a patient is the reader and checked against the source where a reviewer is. For the discipline itself see our certified medical translation page.
Will USCIS accept your certified Korean translation?
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Yes. Each translation carries a signed certificate of accuracy naming the translator and stating their competence, which is the form USCIS asks for. Tell us the receiving body when you send the documents, because the certification format is the part that gets a filing returned when it is wrong. See immigration document translation for the filing specifics.
Is Korean translation the same as a Korean interpreter?
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No, and they are separate credentials. Translation is written, interpreting is spoken. A contract, a medical record or an exhibit needs a translator and a certificate of accuracy; a deposition, a hearing or a hospital appointment needs an interpreter in the room or on the video. See our Korean interpreters page for the spoken side.
Do you cover Korean translation for New York as well as California?
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Yes. Written work is not tied to where the linguist sits, so Korean document translation is nationwide, and New York is one of the markets that asks for it most alongside Los Angeles and Orange County. Our Korean bench runs to roughly 134 linguists across the network, about 72 of them in California.
How do I request a certified Korean translation quote?
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Send the documents, the target language and the body that will receive them through our online form or by phone at (833) 547-7770. We confirm the certification format, the name spelling to use, and a fixed quote before work begins.
Related Korean Language Services
Documents and appointments are different jobs. An interpreter who has read the translated record arrives already familiar with the case, which shortens the appointment and saves the client repeating themselves.
Request a Certified Korean Translation Quote
Send your documents and tell us who receives them. We confirm the certification format and the name spelling before work begins.