An Introduction to Koreans(Han, Joseon, Joseon ethnicity) and the Korean Language Variation, part II The difference between the North Korean and South Korean dialects: as I mentioned in my blog, these two dialects are completely identical on a basic level (vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, etc.), and the differences are mostly seen different set phrases and intonation (here “Han language” refers to Seoul dialect, and “Joseon language” refers to Pyongyang dialect. In reality, of course, the Korean peninsula has a wide range of regional dialects) From its roots in Old Korean and Chinese characters, Han Korean has incorporated a lot of foreign vocabulary too, especially from English, in a way very comparable to Japanese. These English loanwords have entered everyday South Korean discourse and are very much Korean words now. Joseon Korean differs starkly in this respect, due to differences in politics, economics, culture, etc. I personally think Joseon Korean won’t be influenced by foreign languages, and this isn’t desirable anyway! One more thing: Korean’s vocabulary is smaller than that of Chinese. Chinese has proven very flexible at loanword translation (Don't get me started on how Chinese translates foreign names!). However this doesn’t seem to be the case with Korean and Japanese, which has to employ a range of phonetic transliteration techniques to make the foreign words sound natural in their language.As for intonation, I’m unable to give a technical explanation as I’m certainly no phonologist, but here’s my feeling: Han Korean intonation does not rise and fall as much, it’s very flowing and soft. Joseon Korean intonation fluctuates more, and the language tends to be more florid and grandiose.