Pokémon in South Korea: Difference between revisions

[[File:PocketMonstersGumEun.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cover of Pocket Monsters Gum·Eun]] Eventually, South Korean and Japanese relations had warmed up to the point where the South Korean government's ban on Japanese cultural imports was partially lifted in October 1998<ref>[http://www.jei.org/Restricted/JEIR00/0026w3.html SOUTH KOREA EASES BAN ON JAPANESE CULTURE]</ref>. This in turn finally allowed for the release of some Pokémon titles into South Korea. In particular, the Pokémon anime first appeared on Korean television on July 1999, while the Pokémon manga series, [[Pokémon Adventures]] (포켓몬스터 스페셜 ''Pocket Monsters Special''), would hit bookshelves on August 1999. The first Korean-language main series game, however, would be [[Pokémon Gold and Silver]] (포켓몬스터 금·은 ''Pocket Monsters Gum·Eun''), which saw a release in April 2002; its delay may have been due to the difficulty of including the Korean language writing system in it. On the other hand, neither {{game|Crystal}} nor the [[Generation III|third generation]] games would see a release in South Korea, most likely for the same difficulties involved in a Korean translation. There may have also been uncertainty on how to play those games, as Hyundai would not license version of either the Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance for release Korea.

Finally in January 2004, the South Korean government completely lifted its ban on Japanese cultural imports<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2003/dec/28/world/fg-japanculture28 South Korea Makes Way for Anime]</ref>. This allowed Nintendo to officially operate in South Korea as 한국닌텐도(주) ''Nintendo of Korea, Inc.'' starting on July 2006<ref>[http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/03/nintendo-of-korea-opens-july-7th/ Nintendo of Korea opens July 7th]</ref>, with 포켓몬코리아 ''Pokémon Korea, Inc.'' beginning its operations a month later<ref>[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/history/ The Pokémon Company History]</ref>. The [[Nintendo DS Lite]] would end up being the first console officially released by the new Nintendo of Korea in January 2007, and [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]] (포켓몬스터 DP 디아루가·펄기아 ''Pocket Monsters DP Dialga·Palkia'') would be released in February 2008. However, it would not be until the release of [[Pokémon Black and White]] (포켓몬스터 블랙·화이트 ''Pocket Monsters Black·White'') in 2010 that Korean games would be completely compatible with other region carts (as [[Generation IV|Gen IV]] games from other regions lacks Korean characters).

[[File:Platinum KO boxart.png|thumb|right|200px|Cover of Pokémon Giratina Pt version]] In this time, Pokémon has enjoyed considerable success in South Korea. Releases in Korea have been able to keep pace with Japan and the rest of the world; [[Pokémon Adventures volume 42]] was released in Korea before North America, new TCG sets are released on a regular basis, and the Korean release of [[Pokémon X and Y]] (포켓몬스터 X・Y ''Pocket Monsters X·Y'') will be part of the "Worldwide Release", with Korean being a playable option in all regions. Pokémon in South Korea also tends to be more similar to what is released in Japan, as opposed to being based on the North American version like with Europe and other Commonwealth nations.

[[File:PokemonXY-KoreanBox.png|thumb|right|200px|Cover of Pocket Monsters X·Y]] Due to the South Korean government's ban on Japanese cultural items, none of the [[Generation I|first generation]] games would see an official release in Korea. Once the ban was slightly lifted in 1998, [[Pokemon Gold & Silver]] (포켓몬스터 금·은 ''Pocket Monsters Gum·Eun'') would be released in 2002. Unlike previous localizations of Pokémon Gold and Silver, these versions are not playable on the original [[Game Boy]] at all, and display an incompatibility message if inserted into an original Game Boy, like [[Pokémon Crystal]]. <ref>[http://mgaver.tistory.com/122 Hangeru Team (Korean Pokémon blog)]</ref> For unknown reasons, Pokémon Crystal was never released in the Korean language, although it may be of note that the Game Boy Color's lifespan overseas was almost finished. Likewise, none of the [[Generation III|third generation]] would see a South Korean release either.

Since February 2008, all of the [[Generation IV|fourth generation]] main series games have been released in South Korea. Several of the [[Spin-off Pokémon games|spin-off]] Pokémon games have been released in South Korea as well. The [[Generation V|fifth generation]] games would see a release in 2011, and [[Pokemon X and Y]] will be released in Korea at the same time as the rest of the world.

With some exceptions such as {{p|Pikachu}} and the legendary Pokémon, most of the Pokémon species names are completely localized into the Korean language. These names often skew closer to the original Japanese names than translated names in other languages, especially in later generations. For more information on these translated names, see [[list of Korean Pokémon names]].

[[File:KoreanPGL.png|thumb|right|200px|Korean Pokémon Global Link]]Local events have been occurring often in South Korea since the release of {{game|Diamond and Pearl|s}}. The events are usually announced on the Korean Pokémon website. With the release of [[Pokemon Black & White]], there has been both an official Korean version of the [[Pokémon Global Link]] as well as various wi-fi competitions, both International and Local (Korean).

<!--The Korean dub of the [[Pokémon anime]] is recorded and produced by ''' '''.-->The Korean dub of the Pokémon anime was first aired in July 1999, and is mainly based on the original Japanese version. Most characters are renamed in the dub; for example, [[Ash Ketchum]] is 한지우 ''Han Ji-u'', [[Misty (anime)|Misty]] is 최이슬 ''Chwai I-seul'' and [[Brock (anime)|Brock]] is 웅 ''Ung''.

Unlike the other dubs, the Korean dub has banned 20 episodes so far, including the ones banned in Japan. These banned episodes usually included overt references to Japan and Japanese culture, such as [[EP004]] ''Challenge of the Samurai'' and [[EP032]] ''The Ninja Poké-Showdown''. However most of these episodes were from the [[List of original series episodes|original series]], with the last unaired episodes (not counting clip shows like [[AG120]] and [[DP120]] or episodes banned in Japan) being from [[List_of_Advanced_Generation_series_episodes|Advanced Generation]]: [[AG055]] and [[AG056]]. However, that may have been an oversight.

지우 ''Ji-u'' ([[Ash Ketchum]]) has been voiced by:

* '''최덕희''' ''Choi Deok-hyi'' for the [[Original series]], ''[[M01]]'' and ''[[M02]]'',

* '''안현서''' ''An Hyeon-seo'' for ''[[M03]]'', ''[[M04]]'', and ''[[M05]]'',

* '''이선호''' ''Lee Seon-ho'' for {{series2|Advanced Generation}}, {{series|Diamond & Pearl}} and {{series|Black & White}}, as well as the movies in the respective series.

이슬 ''I-seul'' ({{an|Misty}}) was voiced by '''지미애''' ''Chi Mi-ae''.

 

 

봄이 ''Bom'i'' ({{an|May}}) was voiced by:

* '''지미애''' ''Chi Mi-ae'' for the movies except for ''[[M07]]'',

* '''김현지''' ''Kim Hyeon-ji'' for ''[[M07]]''

[[File:Korean-PokemonCard-ADV.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Korean pack of Pokemon ADV]] The Pokémon Trading Card Game (포켓몬 카드 게임 ''Pokemon Card Game'') was initially released in South Korea in 2000 by [[Wizards of the Coast]], starting with [[Base Set]]. A Korean Pikachu was included in two separate [[World Collection (TCG)|Pikachu World Collection]] promo sets. When Nintendo took over the game in 2003, they continued to release new sets until {{TCG|EX Power Keepers}}. With the release of the [[Diamond & Pearl (TCG)|Diamond and Pearl]] sets, the Korean-language cards were released again, starting with 모험의 시작 ''Start of the Adventure''; however Korean sets at this time were a unique combination of existing cards, with none of the sets themselves corresponding to existing sets. It wouldn't be until the release of the [[Black & White (TCG)|Black and White]] sets in Japan that Korean sets would follow Japan's set format; the latest sets released in Korea as of July 2013 were 스파이럴포스 ''Spiral Force'' and 볼트너클 ''Bolt Knuckle'', which correspond to Japan's [[Plasma Freeze (TCG)|Spiral Force and Thunder Knuckle]] sets, respectively, released on May 23rd, 2013.

Currently, the distributor is Pokémon Korea, Inc. Unlike the North American set, the booster packs are called Extension Packs, the decks are called Random Decks, and the promotional pack is called a Special Set. However, unlike the Japanese sets, the card borders, colors, layout and backs are the based on the current English cards.

A complete list in English of the Korean cards during the Diamond & Pearl sets, with reference to the original cards, is available at the [http://www.poisonpie.com/toys/korean/index.html Korean Pokémon Card Database in English].  A searchable database of all cards released since the Diamond & Pearl sets can be found on the official Korean language Pokémon Card Game site [http://pokemonkorea.co.kr/cardgame/card_search_1.asp here].

[[Pokémon Adventures]] (포켓몬스터 스페셜 ''Pocket Monsters Special'') has been published in South Korea by 대원씨아이 ''{{wp|Daewon C.I.}}'' since August 1999. Since then, every volume that has been released in Japan has been released in Korean, the most recent being [[Pokémon Adventures volume 42|Volume 42]], which was released on April 30, 2013. No major changes have been made between the original Japanese story and the Korean version.