Korean slang profile
지하경제
jihagyeongje
Underground economy
Economic activity occurring outside government statistics, taxation, or regulatory systems.
- Expanded form
- Not documented
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Nov 1999
- Documented trend period
- Not verified
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
그 글은 지하경제의 규모를 파악하기 어려운 이유를 설명했다.
The piece explained why the scale of 지하경제 is difficult to determine.
02Documented history
No history documented.
03Origin & word formation
Gyeonggi Province’s November 1999 지식행정 용어해설집 explains this expression as a separate entry. This is the checked source’s publication period; first use and the coiner were not verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The November 1999 revised edition was compared on PDF page 253. This is a glossary of everyday, current-affairs, and specialist terms of the time rather than a new-word survey. Only inclusion was checked; the birth year or period of popular use was not verified.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 지식행정 용어해설집 (경기도, 1999년 11월 수정판)Published Nov 1999Original source checked Nov 15, 2026