It's 'Hangang River', not 'Han River', Seoul city authorities say

The river Han should be referred to by its Korean name, "Hangang", followed by "River", according to officials.

Seoul's government has officially adopted "Hangang" as the English name for its iconic river, replacing the widely used "Han River".

The updated name combines "Han" with "gang," the Korean word for river. However, the channel of water should be referred to as the "Hangang River", the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Tuesday (Nov 19).

The decision aligns with efforts to standardise branding and reduce confusion for international tourists, strengthening Seoul’s cultural identity on the global stage, they reasoned.

This adjustment aligns with the naming of other landmarks, such as rebranding the "Han River Citizen’s Park" to "Hangang Park".

In July 2020, when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established guidelines for writing the names of natural landmarks in English, they specified that Korean terms should be Romanised, followed by an English descriptor of the geographic feature. For example, Mount Halla in Jeju, whose Korean name is Hallasan, should be written as "Hallasan Mountain".

The city government said it would make efforts to ensure that the "Hangang River" name is widely adopted.

However, some netizens have pointed out the redundancy of "Hangang River" translating to "Han River river".

Still, it won't be the first example of a tautological name. Here are a few more from around the world.

MONTANA MOUNTAIN ("Mountain mountain")

The name of this mountain in the Yukon, Canada, is the Spanish word for "mountain".

EAST TIMOR ("East east")

"Timor" comes from the Bahasa word "timur", meaning "east". The country's Portugese-derived name, Timor Leste, is the same, as "leste" means "east".

SAHARA DESERT ("Desert desert")

The name "Sahara" comes from "sahra", the Arabic word for "desert".

AVENUE ROAD

There are a few Avenue Roads in cities around the world including London, Toronto and Bengaluru. Technically, an avenue is usually characterised as being lined with buildings or trees, but, it's still a road.

FAROE ISLANDS ("Sheep Islands Islands")

"Faroe" is derived from the Old Norse word Færeyjar, which means "sheep islands".

MILKY WAY GALAXY

"Galaxy" is a term that comes from "galaxias", the ancient Greek word used to refer to the band of lights in the sky meaning "milky".

NEW BAHRU ("New new")

The name of this creative lifestyle enclave in Singapore combines the adjective "new" with the Malay word for "new".