In the last seven decades, the East Asian countries whose economic development earned them the title of the “Four Asian Tigers” are South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Among them, South Korea stands out for its rich history, culture, food, entertainment (including the global K-pop industry), tourism, high-tech advancements, K-beauty and cosmetics, and its beautifully structured language known as Hangugeo (한국어).
There was no original native script for speaking or writing Korean until the mid-15th century, when a revolutionary step was taken by King Sejong the Great of South Korea. In 1443, he invented the Korean script now known as Hangeul (한글). The term Han (한) means “great” and Geul (글) means “letters”
In South Korea, the script is called Hangeul (한글), while in North Korea, it is known as Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글).
Every year on October 9, South Korea celebrates Hangeul Day (한글날, Hangeul-nal, where “날” means “day”), commemorating the creation and proclamation of this scientific writing system.
At the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul, South Korea, one can view the most precious document in Korean linguistic history:
- Hunminjeongeum Haerye (훈민정음 해례), translated as “Explanations and Examples of the Correct Sounds to Instruct the People.” It was published in 1446, explaining in detail how Hangeul was created.
- The museum also preserves the first song written in Hangeul (1447) and the first-ever newspaper printed in Hangeul in the early 1900s.
During the Japanese colonial rule, despite severe suppression, Koreans bravely published newspapers, literature, poetry, and pamphlets using Hangeul to resist cultural erasure and preserve their identity.
Why Hangeul Was Created
Before the invention of Hangeul, only nobles and scholars had access to education and used Classical Chinese characters, known as Hanja (한자) in Korean and Kanji in Japanese.
King Sejong the Great noticed that due to the complexity of the Chinese characters, like stroke orders, difficulty in pronunciation, common people weren’t able to learn & understand them. To promote mass literacy, he designed a logical, simple, and phonetic script.
He scientifically studied the articulatory phonetics of the Korean language—how the lips, teeth, tongue, glottis, and palate work—while designing the consonants.
Moreover, the consonants symbolized the five major elements of the universe: fire, water, metal, tree, and soil. The goal was to make the characters simple and accessible for all social classes.
In the beginning, Hangeul had 28 basic letters, but with evolving time, some characters fell out, and we now use the modern evolved script of Korean.
Uniqueness and Global Relevance
There are over 3000 major and around 7000 minor or dialect languages in the world. Out of these, Korean ranks 13th in the world in terms of the number of speakers, be it native or non-native. There are almost 77 million native speakers and 5.6 million heritage speakers in the world. Korean is also one of the most popular languages in the world, with increasing numbers of learners day by day.
Over the period of time, many languages have vanished from the world as they didn’t have a written script. However, Korean has preserved itself as they have their own written script which is scientifically developed.
One of the noticeable features of Hangeul is its syllable block structure. Korean is written either from top to bottom or left to right in a proper format, and the letters are grouped into blocks that represent a syllable. Thus, making it one of the most structured, easiest, and efficient writing systems in the world.
Philosophical and Scientific Aspects
The vowels in Korean are covered under Chinese metaphysical principles, which represent the three basic elements of the universe: Dot (ㆍ) for the Sun/Heaven, Horizontal line (-) for the Earth (Yin), and Vertical line (|) for Human (Yang).
This cosmic and philosophical base reflects King Sejong’s intention to harmonize science, society, and philosophy in a script.
Linguistic Roots and Historical Influence
Many scholars debate that Korean may have a close relationship with the Proto-Korean and Proto-Japonic languages due to many similarities in structure, vocabulary, and grammar among them. However, this theory remains unconfirmed.
Korean has also been influenced by Chinese and Japanese vocabulary over the centuries. This is why early official records were mostly written in Hanja for scholarly and government purposes.
Historical Stages of the Korean Language
1. Old Korean (up to the 10th century)
Used during the Three Kingdoms Period, i.e, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, and early Unified Silla. Every kingdom had its own variant in language, such as the Goguryeo language, Baekje language, and Silla language.
As the Silla dynasty ruled the most & unified the Korean peninsula, they left most of the records, which are used as a reference for the old Koreans. At this stage, no native writing system existed.
2. Middle Korean (10th – 16th century)
This era marked a major linguistic breakthrough as Hangeul was created by King Sejong and the Hall of Worthies (집현전). It mainly aimed to replace Chinese characters, which were complex and difficult to understand, and promote literacy among commoners/ Country people.
“The sounds of our language are different from those of China, and so our characters do not match. Hence, many of our people, though they want to read and write, cannot express themselves. I am saddened by this, so I have created 28 new letters…” — King Sejong, Hunminjeongeum Haerye
Modern Korean spelling rules, pronunciation systems, and historical dictionaries are derived from this period.
3. Modern Korean (17th century – Present)
After liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, Hangeul became Korea’s official national script.
Though once considered a “low-class” or “women’s script,” Hangeul is now the medium of education, government, literature, and media in South Korea.
Hanja is still occasionally taught, especially in academic or legal settings, but is rarely used in everyday life.
Final Thoughts
A language cannot survive intellectually or spiritually if it ceases to exist physically. Without language, knowledge cannot be preserved or exchanged.
From replacing Classical Chinese to the creation, preservation, and promotion of Hangeul—the journey of the Korean language is one of courage, logic, and cultural resilience.