Korean Consonants

In general terms there are 14 consonants (of which four are aspirated consonants) plus 5 consonants that are called double or tense consonants.

Tense consonants: Double or tense consonants are Hangeul consonants that have pronunciations harder than the basic consonants but not as strong as the aspirated consonants.

Basic Consonants

Consonant	Romanisation	Aspirated
	g/k
	n/n
	d/t
	r/l
	m/m
	b/p
	s/t
	silent/ng
	j/t
	ch/t	***
	k/k	***
	t/t	***
	p/p	***
	h/t

Tense or (Double) Consonants

Tense consonants: Double or tense consonants are Hangeul consonants that have pronunciations harder than the basic consonants but not as strong as the aspirated consonants.

There are five tense or double consonants.

Tense Consonant	Romanisation
	kk/k
	tt/-
	pp/-
	ss/t
	jj/-

Aspirated Consonants

Aspirated consonants (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ) are pronounced like their plain counterparts but with strong aspiration.

Aspirated Consonant	Romanisation
	k/k
	t/t
	p/p
	ch/t

Bursting with air: In Korean, aspirated consonants must be pronounced with a burst of air just like for the p sound in “pin”, and this is important for both speaking and interpreting Korean accurately.