改

There are two main interpretations:

As a semantic compound:

己 (self, body; also depicted as a kneeling child) – representing the person to be corrected.

攴 (to strike, to discipline) – representing a hand holding a rod or stick.

Together, the image is of disciplining or correcting someone’s behavior, giving rise to the meaning “to correct, to change.”

As a phono-semantic compound:

己 – phonetic element.

攴 – semantic element, indicating action or correction.

己, 巳, and 已 were historically interchangeable as phonetic elements because of identical rhyme groups.

Semantic range:

- to correct (errors, mistakes, behavior);

- to revise, amend (documents, plans);

- to change, alter (habits, direction);

- figurative: to reform, improve, adjust.

改正 (개정) – revision, amendment

改造 (개조) – reform, remodeling

改善 (개선) – improvement

改名 (개명) – name change

改革 (개혁) – reform, restructuring

Stroke shape differences:

China: third stroke often written like レ

Japan/Korea: third stroke like 乚

Minor stylistic difference, not encoded separately.