hankyoreh

As the Korean government aims to eliminate the official use of old forms of measurement - such as a geun of pork or a pyeong of land - confusion is expected in local markets.

According to a related law in place since 1961, ordinary citizens as well as corporate and government offices should use measurements based on the metric system and are banned from using traditional weights and measures such as "pyeong," majigi" (both area), "ja," "ri" (length or distance), "hop," "doe," "mal" (volume), and "geun," "gwan," and "don" (weight).

The reality is that the use of these forms of measurement is alive and well on the streets of Korea.

With the new law coming into effect this coming July 1, the government is going to step up its efforts to curb the use of the old system and officials and merchants violating the law will face up to 500,000 won (US$540) in fines.

A government official said, "In the current situation, wherein the size of annual commercial transactions reaches 300 trillion won ($324 billion), just with a 1-percent error in the measurements, the damages can be enormous. To maintain fairness in business transactions and to advance the country's industries, we should take measures on the matter."

In the first stage, the government will ban use of "pyeong'' (one pyeong is equal to 3.3 square meters) and "`don'' (one don is equal to 3.75 grams) and then will extend the ban to other measurements. Large companies and public corporations will be the first target of implementing the new measurement system, and mid- and small-sized construction firms, real-estate agencies and real-estate-related companies will be the next target depending on the results.

All of the measurements will still be allowed for use in everyday life situations not encompassing commercial transactions. "Pyeong" was introduced by the Japanese during the 1910-1945 colonial period and was widely used as the measurement unit of choice for home and land transactions; "don" has been used mainly by jeweler's shops.

The Real Estate Brokers' Association has removed pyeong from official contract documents since the beginning of this year. Internet real-estate information agencies have decided to use "square meters" instead of pyeong from next month. Kim Hui-seon at Real Estate 114 says that they are replacing traditional measurements in all the related documents with modern ones.

However, due to the deep-seated practice of using pyeong, ordinary real-estate agencies are expected to use the old measurement continuously. As a result, traditional and modern measurements will likely be used interchangeably for the time being.

Considering that this matter is so closely connected with people's life like this, critics are saying the government has not promoted the new measurement system shift sufficiently. Regarding the government efforts, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy just ran advertisements on the radio from November last year to February and distributed booklets and printed materials to institutions such as schools and administrative bodies.

Besides, many are criticizing the size of the fine. Kim Jin-tae, an official of the ministry noted, "The British government has completely banned the use of the yard and the pound [for weight] since 2001 and violators face nearly 10 million won in fines. Tokyo imposes fines of about 4 million won for such similar violations."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]