Korean slang profile
스펙병
seupekbyeong
A figurative term for being caught up in pressure to acquire credentials that demonstrate one’s ability or qualifications.
A figurative term for being caught up in pressure to acquire credentials that demonstrate one’s ability or qualifications.
- Expanded form
- Not documented
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Nov 9, 2010
- 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
자격증 숫자만 세다 보니 스펙병에 빠진 것 같아.
I think I’ve fallen into 스펙병, just counting how many certificates I have.
02Documented history
- November 9, 2010The National Institute of Korean Language’s “2010년 신어 자료집” included the expression and its definition in the new-word section.[1]
03Origin & word formation
The National Institute of Korean Language’s “2010년 신어 자료집” directly defines the expression in its new-word section. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The entry and definition in one collection were directly checked. The older articles cited in the collection were not separately checked, so their dates were not used as the earliest verified date.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 2010년 신어 자료집 — PDF 42쪽 (국립국어원)Published Nov 9, 2010Original source checked Nov 14, 2026