Design Atlas
한국어
Aa Typography

Korean punctuation conventions

한글 문장부호 관습

Marks like corner brackets (「」『』), the interpunct (·), and the ellipsis (……) that Korean typesetting uses differently from — or in addition to — Western punctuation.

Also known as: 낫표가운뎃점줄임표
···
html
<div class="stage">
  <div class="row" id="r0"><span class="mark">「」</span><span class="ex">「어디 가?」 하고 물었다.</span></div>
  <div class="row" id="r1"><span class="mark">『』</span><span class="ex">『훈민정음』 해례본</span></div>
  <div class="row" id="r2"><span class="mark">·</span><span class="ex">국어·영어·수학</span></div>
  <div class="row" id="r3"><span class="mark">……</span><span class="ex">그건…… 나도 몰라.</span></div>
</div>
css
.stage{display:grid;gap:8px;width:min(94%,320px)}
.row{display:flex;align-items:baseline;gap:12px;padding:6px 10px;border-radius:8px;transition:background .35s}
.row.active{background:color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, transparent)}
.mark{width:2.4em;flex:none;font:700 15px ui-monospace,Menlo,monospace;color:var(--accent-2);text-align:center}
.ex{font:13px -apple-system,system-ui,"Apple SD Gothic Neo",sans-serif;color:var(--fg)}
js
const rows = [0,1,2,3].map(function(i){ return document.getElementById('r' + i); });
let i = 0;
setInterval(function(){
  rows.forEach(function(r){ r.classList.remove('active'); });
  rows[i % rows.length].classList.add('active');
  i++;
}, 1100);

Corner brackets (「」) wrap dialogue or quotations; double corner brackets (『』) wrap larger units like book titles or periodicals. Where Western text reaches for quotation marks or italics, the vertical-writing tradition used angular, directional bracket shapes instead. Even now that horizontal writing is standard, publishing and official documents still often favor corner brackets over quotation marks.

The interpunct (·, U+00B7 or the punctuation-specific U+318D) lists items in a parallel relationship — "국어·영어·수학" (Korean·English·Math) reads as a tighter, more equal grouping than a comma would. Date notation (2024. 3. 1.) also conventionally follows each number with a period.

The formally correct ellipsis is technically six raised dots (⋯⋯), though in practice it's commonly replaced with an ordinary ellipsis (…… or ...). Worth knowing: the tilde used for ranges ("10~20개") has two different Unicode code points — wave dash (U+301C) and fullwidth tilde (U+FF5E) — which can render differently depending on font and OS.

When to use

Follow corner-bracket and interpunct conventions for publishing, official documents, or a traditional feel. Ordinary quotation marks and commas are often sufficient for general web UI.