English Dub For “The Glory” Gains Attention For Its “Konglish” Moment

The Glory is one of Netflix‘s most successful K-Drama originals to date. With the global attention, it was getting, the drama was not only subtitled in various languages, but dubs were also provided.

Most English dubs for Korean dramas tend to sound awkward. Rather than the script not translating well, dubs sometimes lack the necessary acting tone and are phrased in a less satisfying way than the original. Check out the English dub for Squid Game below.

On the other hand, The Glory’s English dub is going viral amongst Koreans for the “Konglish” moment that only made the dub seem more natural. A tweet comparing the Japanese and English dub soon went viral with over 2 million views.

🇯🇵 : 화이토 바쿠욘진!!! 욘진 각코이!!!
🇺🇸 : 렛츠기빗업폴 연진!!! 유아쏘인크레더블 연진아!!! pic.twitter.com/PpncJEJIQs

— 고료소리질러 (@spacce_error) March 14, 2023

The Japanese dub only refers to Yeonjin as “Yonjin,” sticking to the pure name. The English dub threw in a “Yeonjin-ah” at the end. As English does not usually add the “-ah” suffix as Korean does, many were surprised to see it appear. Some wondered if they had hired a Korean-American to do the dubbing. The natural pronunciation also impressed many.

• “Wow, the American version of Yeonjin and Yeonjin-ah is totally natural.”
• “Wow, what’s up with the American dubbing???”
• “Wow, LOL not bad.”
• “Wow, the person who dubbed the English version really did well.”
• “The English version is insane LOL I thought Song Hye Kyo recorded it.”

The original scene in Korean can be watched below. It is where Moon Dong Eun sarcastically congratulates Park Yeon Jin with a “Fighting, Park Yeon Jin! Bravo! You’re so incredible, Yeonjin-ah!”

오늘부터 모든 날이 흉흉할 거야
자극적이고 끔찍할 거야
막을 수도 없앨 수도 없을 거야
나는 너의 아주 오래된 소문이 될 거거든
“화이팅 박연진! 브라보! 멋지다 연진아!” pic.twitter.com/lNJ3DNRmxL

— 취향 (@loverflavor) January 6, 2023