Word levels use the "Vocabulary and Grammar Level List" from the 2017 study on applying the International Standard Korean Curriculum (Stage 4) by 김중섭 and 13 co-researchers, published by the National Institute of Korean Language in 2017 under KOGL Type 1 (Korea Open Government License, Attribution). Free download: https://www.korean.go.kr/front/reportData/reportDataView.do?mn_id=207&report_seq=932. Levels follow this curriculum, which is aligned to TOPIK levels 1-6. This is not an official TOPIK word list, and this app is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Institute of Korean Language.
Which document, exactly
Two National Institute of Korean Language reports are easy to confuse.
More detail
We use the 2017 study on applying the International Standard Korean Curriculum, Stage 4, which carries its vocabulary level list and is published under KOGL Type 1, the licence that permits reuse with attribution. The other, a 2016 report under KOGL Type 4, may not be redistributed, and we do not use it.
What we exclude, and why
The source list holds more headwords than our counts.
More detail
The difference is affixes — word parts such as the honorific ending -님 rather than words a learner meets on their own. They are excluded from the pack, so the gap between the two totals is exactly the number of affixes dropped, not a rounding or a choice of ours.
What these numbers do not mean
A curriculum level is not a TOPIK level.
More detail
The list grades vocabulary for teaching, and TOPIK publishes no vocabulary list of its own, so no count anywhere — ours included — can be called the official TOPIK word list.
Planning for an exam date? The app counts the words for you.
Independent study site, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education or NIIED. TOPIK is a trademark of the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea. Drafted with AI assistance; every number checked against the sources above.