“보기 좋은 떡이 먹기도 좋다” is a Korean proverb that translates to “good-looking rice cakes taste good too.” I believe this notion applies not only to food but also to many other aspects of life, including the appearance of legal documents and communications. Just as a well-presented dish can make our mouths water and promote sales, a visually appealing document can capture people’s attention and facilitate smooth communication. Fonts, in particular, play a significant role in the visual appeal and subliminal messaging of a document. Consider the text comparison below.
When I joined McKinsey Legal in August 2022 as the first lawyer based in McKinsey’s Seoul office, I found the Korean “rice cakes” (contract documents) visually unappealing and professionally unimpressive. This was mainly because Korean versions were translated directly from English documents written in Calibri font. While Calibri has become widely adopted for legal documents written in English, it is still not the industry norm for legal and official documents written in Korean.
After juggling many thoughts—such as consistency with English document fonts and email fonts, and questions from those who don’t want to see changes to existing templates—I decided to give the Korean templates a new look.
In this article, I will share the details of my thought process, starting with the legal framework around fonts in Korea, because as lawyers, we like to start with what the law says (please excuse the nerdiness). Then I will provide an overview of Korean fonts in comparison with English fonts, and I will share the appropriate fonts to use, depending on the occasion, utilizing images of our own legal documents.
What the law says about fonts
The use of fonts is regulated by the Copyright Act (저작권법) and the Design Protection Act (디자인보호법). More specifically, font files (filename ttf, otf) are protected as computer program copyrighted work, according to the Copyright Act; whereas font design itself is protected as a design upon registration with the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO, 특허청) according to the Design Protection Act.
Recently, font companies have been targeting individuals and small businesses with unreasonably high demands for settlements related to alleged copyright infringement of fonts. A letter of warning is sent by law firms via certified mail citing Article 136 (1) of the Copyright Act, which prescribes imprisonment of up to five years and/or a fine of up to $50,000, and Article 125, which stipulates deemed damages in cases of copyright infringement. Out of fear, small business owners often pay exorbitant settlements because they lack a clear understanding of the law and feel intimidated by the threat of criminal liability and the tone of such warning letters.
However, these requests usually lack proper legal grounds since most of these fonts are not registered with KIPO, which means the basis of the claim is the Copyright Act, not the Design Protection Act. The Copyright Act protects the font file, not the font design itself. In other words, use of the font itself does not constitute copyright infringement, and the font companies must prove that the user downloaded and shared the font files, which is not possible even though they throw out such threats. Even in cases where the user has actually downloaded font files, the issue is more often breach of the contract terms and not copyright infringement. Because of the complexity and confusion caused by such dual regulation, legal experts argue that fonts should be uniformly regulated under the Design Protection Act.
Korean font 101
Just as with English, there are largely two categories of Korean fonts: serif, with a fancier look, and sans serif, which is more like block handwriting.
Microsoft changed the default English font from Times New Roman to Calibri in its Office 2007 release to improve readability and make documents look more contemporary. As part of this shift, the default fonts for other languages were also updated, and 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic) was determined to be the best font to replace 바탕체 (Batangche) in Korean. Similar to Calibri, 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic) is a sans serif font featuring clear and easy-to-read characters that are well suited for both on-screen and print documents.
Article 4 of the Civil Procedures Guidelines provides detailed instructions for litigation documents: A4 paper with margins of 45 mm from the top, 20 mm from the left and right sides, and 30 mm from the bottom; font size 12 points (4.2 mm wide by 4.2 mm high); and 200 percent line spacing. Although the font type itself is not specified, 판결서체 (Pangyulsuchae) is used for court rulings. Pangyulsuchae is a special font developed by the court and available only in applications used by judges. Attorneys usually use 바탕체 (Batangche), which has the most similar appearance and is open to the general public.
Fonts for legal: What outfit do we want to put on?
As corporate legal, our utmost priority should be the intrinsic quality of the content we produce. And to ensure that our internal stakeholders and external counterparties take due notice of such quality content, the appearance of fonts must also be appropriate to the TPO (time, place, and occasion). While sportswear is comfortable and trendy, evening dress is the appropriate attire for a gala dinner.
Considering the importance that should be placed on conveying professionalism and authenticity when producing legal documents, as well as the accessibility and legibility of the font, let’s take a look at Korean font options for the corporate legal team.
For email communications where the focus is more on readability, 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic), the Calibri of Korean fonts, seems to be the winner. First, sans serif fonts are easier to read: today’s audience spends less than 11.1 seconds reading an email. Also, 바탕체 (Batangche), the Times New Roman of Korean fonts, has a slightly outdated look and feel, which is why Microsoft Word changed its default Korean font to 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic). Finally, we should consider the fact that more people are reading on small devices. While serif fonts are easy enough to read on a 21-inch monitor, it’s much harder to read on a 3.5-inch smartphone screen. We don’t want our quality email content to be immediately swiped aside due to weak legibility.
Now what about contracts and other legal documents?
McKinsey’s global English contract template has settled on Calibri, the sans serif font in line with the modern trend. However, 바탕체 (Batangche) is still the dominant font for legal documents in Korea because of the fonts used in litigation documents, including court rulings. Big law firms that have adopted 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic) for email communications stick to 바탕체 (Batangche) for contracts, policies, legal memos, and court briefs. This is an occasion where evening dress is still required, despite the slight inconvenience.
Every font has a “personality” that communicates a message. 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic) has a modern, clean, and engaging personality, making it suitable for digital communications, while 바탕체 (Batangche) comes across as more traditional, formal, and serious. Although readability is a key factor, when it comes to contracts and other legal documents, it is important to present a more serious nuance. While there is no right or wrong, it is important to be mindful of the image we are projecting in our documents and to ensure that we are not applying 맑은고딕 (Malgun Gothic) merely because Microsoft set it as the default.
So after carefully considering the balance between clarity and legibility and professionalism and aesthetics, McKinsey’s Korean contract form is 바탕체 (Batangche) for now.
Can you tell which one of the above is 맑은 고딕 (Malgun Gothic) and which one is 바탕체 (Batangche)? Do you find one more visually appealing with a “good-looking rice cake” look?