Korean Letter

History

According to early historical records, two groups of languages were spoken in Manchuria and on the Korean Peninsula at the dawn of the Christian era: one belonged to the Northern Buyeo group and the other to the Southern Han group. Around the middle of the 7th century when the kingdom of Silla unified the peninsula, its language became the dominant form of communication. As a result, the linguistic unification of the peninsula was achieved on the basis of the Silla language.

When the Goryeo Dynasty was founded in the 10th century, the capital was moved to Gaeseong, located at the center of the Korean Peninsula. From that time onward, the dialect of Gaeseong became the standard national language. After the Joseon Dynasty was founded at the end of the 14th century, the capital was moved to Hanyang, today's Seoul. However, since Seoul is geographically close to Gaeseong, the move had little significant effect on the development of the language.

King Sejong always deplored the fact that the common people, ignorant of the complicated Chinese characters that were being used by the educated, were not able to read and write. He understood their frustration in not being able to read or to communicate their thoughts and feelings in written words.

The Chinese script was used by the intelligentsia of the country, but being of foreign origin, it could not fully express the words and meaning of Korean thoughts and spoken language. Therefore, common people with legitimate complaints had no way of submitting their grievances to the appropriate authorities, other than through oral communication, and they had no way to record for posterity the agricultural wisdom and knowledge they had gained through years of experience.

King Sejong felt great sympathy for the people. As a revolutionary ruler strongly dedicated to national identity and cultural independence, he immediately searched for solutions. What he envisioned was a set of letters that was uniquely Korean and easily learnable, rendering it accessible and usable for the common people.

Thus, the Hunminjeongeum was born. In the preface of its proclamation, King Sejong states as follows:

"Being of foreign origin, Chinese characters are incapable of capturing uniquely Korean meanings. Therefore, many common people have no way to express their thoughts and feelings. Out of my sympathy for their difficulties, I have created a set of 28 letters. The letters are very easy to learn, and it is my fervent hope that they improve the quality of life of all people."

The statement captures the essence of King Sejong's determination and dedication to cultural independence and commitment to the welfare of the people.