Everything About the Korean Alphabet — From Its Creation to Its Meaning Today

How was Hangeul, the alphabet we use every day, actually created? Hangeul is the native script of Korea, created in 1443 by King Sejong the Great and promulgated in 1446. It is far more than 'an alphabet made long ago': who created it, when, and on what principles are all recorded within the script itself — something rarely seen among the world's writing systems. In this article, we take a close look at the background of Hangeul's birth, its design principles, the history of its name and its commemorative day, and why Hangeul is drawing attention around the world today.

1. The World of Writing Before Hangeul

Before Hangeul was created, written communication in Joseon Korea depended almost entirely on Chinese characters (Hanja, 漢文). As a Confucian state, Joseon used classical Chinese for administration, scholarship, and diplomacy — but Chinese characters were originally designed to record a language with entirely different word order and grammar from Korean.

Korean scholars therefore developed supplementary notation systems such as Idu (吏讀) and Gugyeol (口訣), which added small Korean particles and endings beside the Chinese characters. However, these methods could only be used after years of studying Chinese characters themselves. Learning to read took years of dedicated study, so the number of people who could write was extremely small.

Under this structure, ordinary people found it nearly impossible to express their thoughts in writing. When treated unfairly, they could not draft a petition to the authorities on their own, and even laws and public notices had to be read to them by someone else. This is exactly where King Sejong focused his attention. His conviction that the grievances ordinary people could not voice were an injustice of the state itself became the starting point for creating a new script.

2. The Creation and Promulgation of Hunminjeongeum

It is widely believed that King Sejong the Great created the new script together with the scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon (Hall of Worthies), but this common notion has little basis. The Sejong Sillok (Annals of King Sejong) and the preface by Jeong Inji in the Haerye Edition of Hunminjeongeum consistently state that King Sejong created the script himself, and the National Institute of Korean Language presents this as the established view. Expecting resistance from the aristocracy, Sejong carried out the work in strict secrecy, creating the script in 1443 (the 25th year of his reign) and promulgating it in 1446 (the 28th year). The Jiphyeonjeon scholars — including Jeong Inji, Choe Hang, Pak Paengnyeon, Sin Sukju, and Seong Sammun — became involved only after the creation: they composed the explanations and examples for the Haerye Edition published for the promulgation and helped study Chinese rhyme books. The script was named Hunminjeongeum (訓民正音), meaning "the correct sounds for the instruction of the people." The name 'Hangeul', which we use today, did not come into wide use until the 20th century.

Right after the promulgation, a book explaining the design principles and usage of the new script was published under the same title, Hunminjeongeum. Of the editions that survive, the Haerye Edition (해례본) — containing the preface written by King Sejong himself along with detailed commentary (haerye) — tells us exactly what the script looked like at the moment of its creation. Long thought to be lost, the Haerye Edition was rediscovered in 1940. It is designated National Treasure No. 70 and was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 1997.

The promulgation of Hangeul did not go unchallenged. Around the time of its release, Choe Manri and other senior officials submitted a petition (the "Ten Faults," mandusipjo) objecting to the new script, arguing that "it is not our inherited culture" and "a script easy for the common people to learn would harm the state." But King Sejong did not bend from his original purpose — that writing should impose no burden on the people as they read aloud and expressed their thoughts. The new script ultimately spread through the hands of the people themselves.

3. The Structure of Hangeul: 24 Basic Letters

Modern Hangeul is written by combining 24 basic letters (jamo). Including the tensed consonants and compound vowels, there are 40 letters in total. At the time of its creation there were 28 letters, of which four — including ㆍ (arae-a) — fell out of use in the modern language.

14 basic consonants: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
10 basic vowels: ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
5 tensed consonants: ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ
11 compound vowels: ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ

4. Scientific Design Principles the World Admires

Consonants model the shape of the mouth producing the sound

The Hangeul consonants were modeled on the shapes of the speech organs that produce each sound. The five basic consonants each stand for one family of sounds, as follows.

ㄱ — the tongue root blocking the throat (ㅋ and ㄲ derive from it)
ㄴ — the tongue touching the upper gums (ㄷ and ㅌ derive from it)
ㅁ — the outline of the lips (ㅂ and ㅍ derive from it)
ㅅ — the shape of the teeth (ㅈ and ㅊ derive from it)
ㅇ — the shape of the throat (ㅎ derives from it)

Adding strokes to a basic letter creates the related sounds made at the same place of articulation. For example, ㄴ gains a stroke to become ㄷ, and another to become ㅌ. Expressing a sound system through the addition of strokes like this is a remarkably systematic design.

Vowels built from heaven, earth, and humanity

The vowels reflect the East Asian cosmology of "heaven, earth, and humanity" (cheong-ji-in). ㆍ depicts the roundness of heaven, ㅡ the flat expanse of earth, and ㅣ a person standing upright. Combining these three basic strokes produced the vowels ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, and ㅜ — embedding in the letters themselves a worldview in which heaven, earth, and humanity come together to form the world.

A featural script assembled into syllable blocks

Hangeul is written by grouping consonants and vowels into syllable-sized blocks. A syllable is written as one block of consonant + vowel (+ final consonant, batchim). Vertical-stroke vowels (ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ) are placed above or below the consonant, while horizontal-stroke vowels (ㅏ, ㅓ) are placed to its right. Thanks to this combinational system, just 24 basic letters can express a vast range of sounds, and the Unicode standard includes about 11,172 modern Hangeul syllables built from these combinations.

5. The Name 'Hangeul' and the Day 'Hangeul Day'

The script was originally called Hunminjeongeum, and over the centuries it was also known as Jeongeum, Eonmun, and Gungmun. The modern name 'Hangeul' was a term used by Ju Si-gyeong, a pioneer of Korean language studies, and it spread widely after the language research society Joseeon Eoyeonhweh officially adopted it in the early 20th century.

1446 — Hunminjeongeum promulgated. Later called Jeongeum, Eonmun, Gungmun, and other names
1894 — Gabo Reforms: Hangeul (the vernacular script) adopted for laws and official documents
1926 — First commemoration of the script's creation as 'Gagyanal'
1928 — The commemorative day renamed 'Hangeul Day' (Hangeullal)
1931 — Hangeul Day fixed to October 9 on the solar calendar
1942 — Joseon Language Society Incident: Japanese colonial authorities arrest Korean language scholars
1949 — Hangeul Day designated a national holiday of the Republic of Korea
1991 — Removed from the holiday list for economic reasons
2013 — Restored as a national holiday after nationwide petition campaigns

Hangeul Day falls on October 9 because the day the Hunminjeongeum document was completed — the ninth lunar month of 1446 — converts most closely to October 9 on the solar calendar. Today Hangeul Day is a national holiday in South Korea, while North Korea calls the same script 'Joseongeul' and observes a separate commemorative day. In addition, Seoul is home to the National Hangeul Museum (opened in 2014; 139 Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu — www.hangeul.go.kr) and the King Sejong the Great Memorial Hall (56 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu — www.sejongkorea.org), both dedicated to the history and culture of Hangeul.

6. Why Hangeul Is Getting Attention Today

First, it is famously easy to learn. Because the sound of each letter can be inferred from its shape and the pronunciation rules are simple, Hangeul is frequently cited around the world as a script highly effective for combating illiteracy. Indeed, when Hangeul was first created, its simplicity was emphasized in the words: "A wise man can learn it in one morning and use it by evening; even a slow-witted man can master it in ten days."

Second, it is a script perfectly suited to the digital age. Hangeul is fully covered by the Unicode standard, so it displays without corruption on any computer or smartphone, and a wide range of keyboard layouts (dubeolsik, sebeolsik, and more), input methods, and typefaces have been developed. Even special notations such as superscripts can be handled with ease.

Third, it keeps spreading across the world. With the global rise of Korean culture, the number of Korean language learners is growing worldwide, and King Sejong Institutes teaching Korean and Hangeul continue to open in many countries. In November 2024, the National Science Museum of Korea also marked the 50th anniversary of the Arecibo message — humanity's first message sent beyond Earth — by transmitting a message written in Hangeul into space. A work of imagination — Hangeul as a way to introduce our script to extraterrestrial civilizations — was turned into a real event. [Source: Donga Science]

7. Ways to Enjoy Hangeul Today

Visit the National Hangeul Museum — 139 Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (www.hangeul.go.kr, tel. +82-2-2124-6200). The museum presents the history of Hangeul, the evolution of its letterforms, and Hangeul typography.
Visit the King Sejong the Great Memorial Hall — 56 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul (www.sejongkorea.org, tel. +82-2-969-8851). The hall explores the background of Hunminjeongeum's creation and King Sejong's philosophy of governance.
Attend Hangeul Day events — Commemorative ceremonies and a variety of cultural events are held nationwide every year around October 9.
Practice plain-language writing — Replacing difficult Sino-Korean words with plain native Korean expressions is one of the best ways to bring out the expressive power of Hangeul.

8. Frequently Asked Questions About Hangeul

Q1. Are Hangeul and Hunminjeongeum different things?
Hunminjeongeum is the script's original name at the time it was created, while Hangeul is the name that came into wide use in the 20th century. It is the same script, called differently by era — it was also known as Jeongeum, Eonmun, Gungmun, and more.

Q2. Why is Hangeul Day on October 9?
Because the day Hunminjeongeum was completed and promulgated — the ninth lunar month of 1446 — converts most closely to October 9 on the solar calendar. The commemorative day was fixed to October 9 in 1931 accordingly.

Q3. Did the number of letters change from the time of creation?
Yes. There were 28 letters at the time of creation. Four, including ㆍ (arae-a), later fell out of use, leaving 24 basic letters in modern Hangeul — 40 in total if tensed consonants and compound vowels are included.

Q4. What does it mean that Hangeul is a UNESCO Memory of the World?
It means the book Hunminjeongeum Haerye Edition, which explains the script's design principles, is inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Original documents recording the principles behind a script's creation are extremely rare, which is why its value is rated so highly.

Q5. What do North Koreans call Hangeul?
North Korea calls it Joseongeul and observes its own commemorative day, separate from Hangeul Day in the South.

Q6. Did the Jiphyeonjeon scholars create Hunminjeongeum?
The established view says no — this widely held belief has little basis. In the Annals of King Sejong, Hunminjeongeum is virtually the only achievement of the era explicitly marked as the king's own creation, and the records consistently credit Sejong himself. The Jiphyeonjeon scholars joined only after the creation, writing the Haerye commentary and studying Chinese rhyme books (in 1445 they even consulted the Chinese phonologist Hwang Chan in Liaodong), while those who actually assisted Sejong during the work were the Crown Prince (later King Munjong) and Prince Suyang (later King Sejo).

Closing

Hangeul combines three strengths: the founding philosophy of "a script made for the people," scientific design modeled on the very origin of sound, and a combinational structure that expresses a vast range of sounds with just a few letters. Over more than 570 years, Hangeul has crossed the walls between rulers and ruled, traveled from paper to digital screens, and continued to expand its reach — even into space. With Hangeul Day (October 9) approaching, why not take a moment to reflect more deeply on its meaning?

Related Resources

National Hangeul Museum website — the history of Hangeul and exhibition information (139 Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)
King Sejong the Great Memorial Hall website — visitor information (56 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul)
National Heritage Portal: National Treasure Hunminjeongeum (Haerye Edition) — original images and designation details

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