▲ King Sejong who invented Hangeul

This year, the Hangeul Proclamation Day was celebrated on October 9. In Hangeul Proclamation Day, the Korean people celebrated the beauty of Hangeul. Hangeul is the writing system for the Korean language invented by King Sejong, Hangeul originally has 26 letters, now reduced to 24 letters, including 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

▲ Material which shows the reason why King Sejong invented Hangeul

King Sejong invented Hangeul for three reasons. First of all, King Sejong invented Hangeul for his love for the people. In the past, Koreans used Chinese characters because they did not have their own writing system and language. So, they used Chinese characters by referring to the sound and meaning of some Chinese words. However, Chinese characters were difficult for people to learn, so they could not express their opinion in words. King Sejong sympathized with his people, so Hangeul was invented. Also, King Sejong invented it for practical uses, King Sejong wanted his people to use Hangeul comfortably every day. Lastly, King Sejong wanted people to know that Korean is different from Chinese.

The superiority of Hangeul is well known to worldwide linguists. First, Hangeul was modeled on the vocal organs. For example, the consonant 'ㅇ' was modeled on the shape of the throat. Also, consonant 'ㅁ' was modeled on the shape of a closed mouth. Moreover, similar sounds are written in similar letters such as 'ㄱ' and 'ㅋ'. The letters which have similar sounds with basic consonants (ㄱ,ㄴ,ㅁ,ㅅ,ㅇ) are written by adding a stroke to basic consonants. Finally, a letter retains just one phonetic value. For example, the English alphabet 'a' retains many sounds like ae and a, but each letter in Hangeul just retains one phonetic value.

▲ National Hangeul Museum located in Yong-san

If you want to enjoy Hangeul, National Hangeul Museum is the best place to visit. The National Hangeul Museum consists of three floors. On the second floor, you can experience the history of Hangeul. National Hangeul Museum explains the history of Hangeul from its invention up to the present. Also, on the third floor, children can experience the principle of creation and superiority of Hangeul. There is no admission fee at National Hangeul Museum, and its opening hours is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct 19th, by Kwak Chae Hyeon