사회기반시설

When asked to translate infrastructure to Korean, most students correctly say 사회기반시설. But when asked to translate 사회기반시설 to English, most students say "social" infrastructure, which does not mean the same as infrastructure.

Infrastructure means "the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise" (Oxford Dictionaries Online). Although people define and categorize infrastructure differently, it generally includes:

• economic infrastructure (e.g. distribution networks and financial institutions)
• political infrastructure (e.g. legal systems and government institutions)
• technological infrastructure (e.g. computers and wireless connectivity)
• physical infrastructure (e.g. roads, buildings, and sewage)
• social infrastructure (e.g. education, health care, and social networks)
  

That is, social infrastructure is a particular kind of infrastructure. The correct English translation of 사회기반시설, therefore, is infrastructure, not social infrastructure!