Korean Cover Letter Byte Counter

How to use

Paste the text of your Korean cover letter or application into the box and see the character count with spaces, without spaces, the count in bytes under the Korean 2-byte rule, and the UTF-8 byte count.

The Korean 2-byte rule

Some Korean job application sites limit length in bytes instead of characters. ASCII characters such as English letters, digits, spaces and line breaks count as 1 byte; everything else, such as Korean, Chinese or Japanese characters, symbols and emoji, counts as 2 bytes. This is the same rule as the legacy Korean encoding EUC-KR.

Before you submit

Check whether the stated limit, such as “1,000 characters,” includes spaces, excludes them, or is actually measured in bytes. Under the byte rule, each Korean character takes 2 bytes, so 1,000 bytes is only about 500 Korean characters.

Privacy

Your text is counted inside this browser only. It is not saved or sent anywhere, and it disappears when you close the page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Korean 2-byte rule?

ASCII characters such as English letters, digits, spaces and line breaks count as 1 byte; everything else, such as Korean, Chinese or Japanese characters, symbols and emoji, counts as 2 bytes. This is the rule of the legacy Korean encoding EUC-KR, which some Korean job application sites still use.

What is the difference between 1,000 characters and 1,000 bytes?

1,000 characters simply counts 1,000 characters, with or without spaces. 1,000 bytes is measured under the Korean 2-byte rule, so it comes out to only about 500 Korean characters. Check which one the application actually asks for.

Do I need this if Korean is not my first language?

Yes. When you apply to a Korean company, the character and byte rules of the application form usually apply the same way regardless of your nationality.