A Study on Translation Strategies for Cultural Elements in Korean-Vietnamese Subtitling

The purpose of this study is to accurately translate cultural elements thatappear in Korean-Vietnamese subtitle translations. The movie ‘Parasite,’ whichexplores the disparity between the rich and poor in modern society, resonated withVietnamese viewers. When translating cultural elements in the film, a lack ofunderstanding of Vietnamese culture can cause a sense of alienation amongVietnamese viewers. Moreover, research on Korean-Vietnamese translationstrategies is less developed compared to those for Chinese, Japanese, andEnglish-speaking countries. This study categorizes cultural elements into four types:proper nouns, vocabulary related to specific cultures, vocabulary related to specificevents or people, and idioms. A total of 71 cultural elements were extracted,and translation strategies were analyzed through representative examples for eachcategory. Given the shared Confucian cultural backgrounds of Korea andVietnam, the replacement of culturally specific elements with general expressionswas found to be unsatisfactory. Therefore, this study proposes alternativetranslations that consider both Korean and Vietnamese cultural contexts. We hopethat future research will further explore translation strategies for Korean-Vietnamesecultural elements at various levels.