Yeonggam

---

title: "Yeonggam" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["society-of-south-korea", "culture-of-south-korea", "goryeo", "society-of-joseon", "popular-culture-language", "korean-words-and-phrases"] description: "Korean honorific" topic_path: "geography/south-korea" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeonggam" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Korean honorific ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Korean name/auto"]

Field	Value
hangul	영감
hanja	令監
title	Yeonggam
::

|hangul= 영감 |hanja=令監 |title=Yeonggam}} ko or ko () is a nickname or Korean honorific for an old man in Korea. ko was historically an honorific title for second-level and third-level civil servants; Vice-Ministers, or Assistant Secretaries of Goryeo and Joseon.

Over time the word became an honorific or nickname for a judge, county governor, head of a township or old man. In recent years, ko has come to be used primarily as a nickname for elderly men. ko has been used in Korea for more than a thousand years.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Joseon-Portrait_of_Cha_Jegong-Black_danryeongpo.jpg" caption="second-level civil servant of [[Joseon dynasty"] ::

ko was first used as an honorific for a lower level civil servants of the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon dynasties, though the first instance of its use is unknown. ko (), was the first spelling used for this name, it was later changed to ko. The term ko comes after public office and peerage titles in a man's name. ko is a homograph. It is not only a title for elderly men, it means 'inspiration' in Korean.

In the Joseon dynasty, men over their 80th birthday were bestowed the honorary position Assistant Secretary. At their 90th birthday they were given the honorary position of Vice-Minister.

With the fall of Joseon, the position of ko (). Along with the change in the meaning of these positions, Korean patriarchal perspectives were added to the usages of ko, which became a common designation; 1. When judges refer to each other 2. When others who are not judges refer to judges 3. When people refer to the mayor 4. When people refer to their elders 5. When women refer to their husbands.

After the Joseon dynasty, the use of ko continued in Japan and Colonial Korea as an honorific for the position of country governor, judge, prosecutor, and district attorney.

Modern usage

After 1962, the Supreme Court of South Korea sought to eliminate the habit of using the term ko for judges since it was considered to be un-democratic. In modern Korea, ko is commonly used as a suffix that comes after the last name of elderly men.

During the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon dynasties ko followed one's title, in modern use ko is used by itself.

References

References

1. [http://rabbitfox.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/news-onkey-in-jonghyuns-birthday-fanacc/{{Dead link. (July 2025)
2. [http://www.asiatoday.co.kr/news/view.asp?seq=440761 [최용민의 좌충우돌] 국회의원, ‘머슴’과 ‘영감’의 역설] 아시아투데이 2011-01-17
3. [http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/column/52568.html 의전서열] 한겨레 2005.07.25
4. ko
5. korean name is 'myeon'(면 ; 面)
6. ko
7. [http://www.busanilbo.com/news2000/html/2007/1214/040020071214.1030102628.html [금요칼럼] 겉만 번지르르한 '실버 공약'] Busanilbo 2007.12.14
8. [http://legacy.www.hani.co.kr/section-005006002/2005/02/005006002200502201837029.html 삼도수군통제사 이순신 조선시대 고위직 '종2품'] {{Webarchive. [link](https://web.archive.org/web/20160806074911/http://legacy.www.hani.co.kr/section-005006002/2005/02/005006002200502201837029.html {{Webarchive). link. (2016-08-06). (2016-08-06 hangyorye 2005.02.20 {{in lang). ko
9. ko
10. [http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2011032469381 ‘영감’에 깃든 우리말 변천사] 한국경제 2011/03/25

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::