Grammar
-는 한편
Meaning
Advanced-neun hanpyeon
Attached to a verb stem, -는 한편 presents two things the same subject pursues side by side. It is a written, news-register connective: the first clause is the main line of action, the second is what is being carried on alongside it. With adjectives or past facts the form appears as -(으)ㄴ 한편.
Form
Verb stem + -는 한편, with no change for a final consonant (줄이다 → 줄이는 한편, 찾다 → 찾는 한편). A stem ending in ㄹ drops it: 만들다 → 만드는 한편. 한편 is a noun meaning 'one side', so it is written with a space in front of it. Adjectives and completed states take -(으)ㄴ 한편 instead. The two clauses normally share one subject, named once at the front of the sentence: 정부는 예산을 줄이는 한편 새 사업도 준비하고 있습니다.
Examples
정부는 예산을 줄이는 한편 새 사업도 준비하고 있습니다.
While cutting the budget, the government is also preparing new projects.
회사는 신제품을 개발하는 한편 해외 시장도 알아보고 있습니다.
While developing new products, the company is also looking into overseas markets.
그는 회사에 다니는 한편 주말에는 한국어를 가르칩니다.
While working at a company, he also teaches Korean on weekends.
시는 도로를 넓히는 한편 버스 노선도 늘리기로 했습니다.
The city decided to widen the roads and also to increase the number of bus routes.
Common mistakes & nuance
The second clause very often carries 도 ('also'), which is the clearest signal that the two actions are being added together rather than set against each other. This is written and news Korean; in conversation -(으)면서 does the same job.
Similar grammar
- -(으)ㄴ/는 반면
-(으)ㄴ/는 반면 sets two facts against each other as opposites (예금은 줄어든 반면 주식은 늘었습니다). -는 한편 adds a second action alongside the first with no contradiction implied — one subject is doing both.
- -(으)면서
-(으)면서 says two actions happen at the same moment and is at home in speech (음악을 들으면서 공부해요, 'I study while listening to music'). -는 한편 is written register and is about two lines of activity being pursued in parallel, not two things done in the same instant.