Visit Galmi Hangul Park and Celebrate Hangul Day!

Are you interested in learning Korean language and its alphabet, Hangul? Check out the history of how it's created and what it represents.

Hangul

Before the 15th century, there were no unique characters used to write Korean, so Chinese characters were borrowed for that purpose. Ordinary people, however, had few opportunities to learn Chinese characters. King Sejong then created Hunminjeongeum, a writing system ideal for the Korean language that anyone can easily learn to read and write.

Hangul reflects the characteristics of speech sounds in the shape of the letters. The five basic consonant letters of Hangul are modeled after the shape of speech organs: the tongue, teeth, mouth, and throat. The three basic vowel letters of Hangul are modeled after the shape of sky, earth, and people. Hangul consists of consonants and vowels that are combined to form one-syllable units. Originally, there were 28 Hangul characters, but as the speech and use of Korean changed, this was reduced to a total of 24 characters.

History of Hangul Day

Hangul Day, October 9th, celebrates King Sejong's creation and distribution of Hunminjeongeum. It is a meaningful day that has been designated as one of five major national holidays of Korea.

Hunminjeongeum was introduced in 1446 after a three-year trial period. The beginning of Hangul Day as we know it today is Gagyanal, which was first celebrated by the Chosun Language Research Association in 1926. At that time, Korea was under Japanese occupation and the Korean language was actively suppressed. For example, students at that time had to take the majority of their classes in Japanese.​

​Korean language scholars founded the Korean Language Research Association in 1921; this evolved into the current Korean Language Society. Despite difficulties, the Chosun Language Research Association strove to protect Hangul through initiatives that include Hangul lessons and literacy campaigns. One initiative was the enactment of Gagyanal in 1926, which was renamed Hangul Day since 1928.

Based on the records of the Hunminjeongeum Haerye discovered in Andong in 1940, September 10th of the lunar calendar became the anniversary, which corresponds to October 9th of the solar calendar.

Hangul Day was then designated as a national holiday in 1946. In 1990, it was excluded from the list of holidays due to the argument that the existence of too many holidays was an obstacle to industrial development. But, in 2006, Hangul Day was restored as a national holiday.

Uiwang Galmi Hangul Park

Galmi Hangul Park is located in Uiwang City, Gyeonggi-do. Located at the foot of Moraksan Mountain, the park was created to commemorate Dr. Hee-seung Lee, a Korean scholar born in Uiwang. It is surrounded by Baegun Lake and Moraksan Dulle-gil.

Galmi Hangul Park was created to commemorate Dr. Hee-seung Lee in Uiwang City
ⓒGyeonggi Province

When walking up the ‘Culture and Arts’ road from the Gyewon University of Arts, Baegun Lake and Moraksan Dulle-gil appear. There are restaurants and cafes throughout this area, so people continue to visit the forest path even after dark. In the center of the park, there is an artwork that functions as a bench with the motif of Korean consonants. In addition, visitors can also see stylish sculptures that incorporate Korean consonants.

Hangul, Korean alphabet, is a writing system that reflects the characteristics of speech sounds in the shape of letters
ⓒGyeonggi Province