Grammar
-는 것으로 확인되다
Meaning
Expert-neun geoseuro hwagindoeda
확인(確認) is verification — somebody checked, and it held. The clause is nominalised with -는 것 (a property or behaviour that holds) or -(으)ㄴ 것 (a completed event), marked with 으로, and closed with the passive 확인되다, which presents the result as established rather than as the writer's assertion. It is the firmest of the reporting frames news Korean uses: 나타나다 says the data showed something, 알려지다 says it is commonly held, 확인되다 says it was tested. Being passive, it names nobody as the verifier, so a reader who wants to know who checked has to look for it elsewhere in the article.
Form
Use -는 것으로 when the confirmed thing is a property or behaviour that holds: 작동하다 → 작동하는 것으로, 살다 → 사는 것으로 (stem-final ㄹ dropped). Use -(으)ㄴ 것으로 when it is a completed event: 쓰이다 → 쓰인 것으로 확인됐습니다. The verb finishes as 확인됐습니다, 확인됐다, or the present 확인된다. To name the body that did the checking, switch to the active 확인하다, which takes it as the subject (국가유산청은 … 확인했습니다); alternatively the checking is set up in an earlier clause with -(으)ㄴ 결과 (조사한 결과, … 확인됐습니다).
Examples
새로 개발한 소재는 고온에서도 안정적으로 작동하는 것으로 확인됐습니다.
The newly developed material was confirmed to operate stably even at high temperatures.
From: KAIST Develops Process That Cuts Flow-Battery Electrolyte Production Time by 67%
멸종된 줄 알았던 이 새가 아직 섬에 사는 것으로 확인됐습니다.
The bird, thought to be extinct, was confirmed to be still living on the island.
화재는 전기 합선으로 시작된 것으로 확인됐습니다.
The fire was confirmed to have started with an electrical short circuit.
Common mistakes & nuance
Nothing about the future can be verified, so this frame does not take the prospective -(으)ㄹ: -(으)ㄹ 것으로 확인되다 is not how Korean writes a forecast, and the verbs for that are 예상되다, 전망하다 and 보이다. Against 나타나다, the difference is how much work stands behind the claim — a single survey result is 나타났다, while a repeated test, a measurement or an investigation earns 확인됐다 — and a science release will often use both in the same paragraph. Since 확인되다 is passive, the verifier is deleted; if that matters to the sentence, use the active 확인하다 and give it a subject.
Similar grammar
- -(으)ㄴ 것으로 나타나다
The same agentless reporting frame one step weaker. 나타나다 only says the figures showed it and is the default for survey and statistics articles; 확인되다 claims it was checked and held, which is why it belongs to test results and investigations.
- -(으)로 풀이되다/분석되다
확인되다 settles a fact; 풀이되다/분석되다 deliberately does not, offering a reading of a cause that the writer is not claiming to have verified. Do not use 확인되다 for an explanation of why something happened unless it really was tested.