What does “jeongseong” mean in Korean?

정성 is the effort you can feel in a finished thing. Its hanja, 精誠, are “refined” and “sincere,” and Koreans use the word for food cooked slowly for someone, a gift chosen properly, work done without cutting corners: 정성을 다하다, “to give it everything you have.” A meal made 정성껏 is understood to taste different from the same meal made in a hurry.

In the clip a woman remembers the compliment that stuck from childhood: an aunt said she read her books 정성스레, with real care — praise for how she was doing it, not for what she achieved. Useful forms: 정성껏 (as carefully as one can), 정성스럽다 (done with care), 정성이 담기다 (to have care put into it).