Why are Korean names anglicised in a way that’s different from their pronunciation?

I’m from the UK and I’ve been consuming a lot of Korean news recently (given recent… events) and noticed that the way we write out Korean names in English is often not how they are actually pronounced – meaning we pronounce them pretty differently. Some examples:

  • Lee Jae-myung (이재명) is pronounced in Korean as ijaemyeong
  • Yoon Suk Yeol (윤석열) is pronounced yunseog-yeol
  • Roh Moo-hyun (노무현) is pronounced nomuhyeon

What is the reason for this? Is it just anglo laziness/incompetence or is there something else to it?

And does that mean when I, as a Brit, pronounce Lee Jae-myung exactly how it’s written out in English, I’m actually pronouncing it wrong?

submitted by /u/oztaylor
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