# Sergeant



## Setwale_Charm

Hello.
How do you address a sergeant of the Korean Army in Korean? 

 Thank you.


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## ilydork

Hello,

Until someone who definitely knows the answer, I'll try my best to answer your question.

I'm unfamiliar with military ranks, so I looked up the word and I got multiple translations depending on whether it's a lance sergeant or drill sergeant.. 
drill sergeant & sergeant major = 하사관
master sergeant = 상사

In Korean society, in work places etc with a hierarchy according to positions, you address people by their titles.. So if you're of a lower position, then you address your superiors differently, most often by adding "님" (sign of respect; pronounced "nim") after their title. For example, "사장님". If you are a of a higher rank, you don't add the 님 after the title.

So logically.. I would think that you would add 님 to 하사관 if you are of a lower rank.. 하사관님
And if you are of a higher rank, simply 하사관

Hope someone can clarify this because I'm not sure.


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## kenjoluma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant#South_Korea


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## Setwale_Charm

Daedan hi kam-sa-ham-ni-da!


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## haebyungdae

You would simply either state that persons last name and add on their rank (Sergeant Kim/김 병장).

Or, you would just state the rank and add "nim" to the end of it (병장님). However, I would suspect that adding of "nim" would not often be added to lower enlisted ranks and would instead be reserved for senior enlisted/officer when it is more inappropriate to refer to them by name.


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## 경상남도로 오이소

ilydork said:


> Hello,
> 
> Until someone who definitely knows the answer, I'll try my best to answer your question.
> 
> I'm unfamiliar with military ranks, so I looked up the word and I got multiple translations depending on whether it's a lance sergeant or drill sergeant..
> drill sergeant & sergeant major = 하사관
> master sergeant = 상사
> 
> In Korean society, in work places etc with a hierarchy according to positions, you address people by their titles.. So if you're of a lower position, then you address your superiors differently, most often by adding "님" (sign of respect; pronounced "nim") after their title. For example, "사장님". If you are a of a higher rank, you don't add the 님 after the title.
> 
> So logically.. I would think that you would add 님 to 하사관 if you are of a lower rank.. 하사관님
> And if you are of a higher rank, simply 하사관
> 
> Hope someone can clarify this because I'm not sure.



"하사관" is not at all used these days. At least not when I did my military in 2007 - 2009. The appropriate name is "부사관". And I am afraid your definition is totally wrong. 

부사관 is the rainbow term which covers the ranks 하사, 중사, 상사 (and in some cases even 준위), which, in turn, are higher than 병장 and lower than 소위. In the military, they're the ones who're responsible for the conscripted soldiers and often works as a counselor for them. Their primary job is to take care of soldiers' health affairs. But that's of course one of the many things they do. They're, in a way, much closer to solders than officials with higher ranks. 

And you don't call them 부사관님 (totally inappropriate!) but 하사님, 중사님, 상사님 by soldiers of lower rank. Not to mention those with higher rank call them 하사, 중사, 상사. It is worth noting that many officials with higher ranks often are younger than 중사 or 상사 so they address them "formal way" and never in 반말. Some newbie officials might even call 상사 "상사님" purely of age differences, even though that's not quite "FM" (field manual).

But those officials who're higher than them might call them "부사관!" if they want to show they don't even care which rank they are. (Especially when they're not satisfied with the drill)


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## 경상남도로 오이소

haebyungdae said:


> You would simply either state that persons last name and add on their rank (Sergeant Kim/김 병장).
> 
> Or, you would just state the rank and add "nim" to the end of it (병장님). However, I would suspect that adding of "nim" would not often be added to lower enlisted ranks and would instead be reserved for senior enlisted/officer when it is more inappropriate to refer to them by name.



It is essential for those with lower ranks (이병, 일병, 상병) call any 병장 "병장님", preferably preceded by their name, as in "홍길동 병장님!" But those with higher ranks, of course, call any 병장 "병장", often preceded by their last name, as in "홍병장!"

You can take my word for it, since I've been there and done that.


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