Hangeul, the scientific phonetic system of Korea

HANGEUL is a unique phonetic system of Korea, created by King Sejong in the mid-15th century (Choseon Dynasty). It is a phonetic system not seen in any other parts of the world, and is considered one of the most scientific among all the phonetic systems that exist. 

Hunminjeongeum(훈민정음)

The Hangeul was created by King Sejong of the Choseon Dynasty, in his effort to achieve social equality in a society where people where treated according to the social class they belonged to. It was created to help all people, regardless of social class, to have easy access to the records which were at the time the privilege of the upper class.

Hangeul has been highly praised for its design- most notably, the shapes of the graphs are related to the phonemes they represent. The shapes of consonant letters are based on the shape of the mouth and tongue in the production of that sound, sometimes with extra marks to indicate a different sound. Furthermore, vowels are built from vertical or horizontal lines so that they are easily distinguishable from consonants.

For its scientificness, Hangeul has been referred to by many linguists as being "remarkable," "the most perfect phonetic system devised," and "brilliant, so deliberately does it fit the language like a glove", attracting worldwide attention. It is because of this scientific design that Korea is able to maintain one of the lowest illiteracy rates in the world, with an astounding near-zero illierate population. In response,some ethnic groups without a phonetic system such as the Ittai-Ittai tribe (an indigenous tribe in Malaysia) have decided to adopt the Hangul as a means to protect their own native language.



Hangeul as a universal design

 Currently, designers are starting to create products that utilize the beautiful line of the Hangeul, attracting much public attention. In fact, many Hollywood celebrities were seen wearing Hangeul-designed clothes, showing the beauty and style that the Hangeul has.




Bonus!! Hangeul Wallpaper :)

Dokdo, the small but invaluable island of South Korea

DOKDO is a small island situated in South Korea, with an abundance of natural resources and a wide variety of marine life. It has been Korean territory since the 1950s, after Korea gained its independence from Japan. but the Japanese government is attempting to take it as Japanese territory, and hot controversies are arising between the two countries.

Dokdo

Historical evidences, however, clearly shows that Dokdo is in fact Korean territory- records, for example, ancient historical records that show that a King had sent his soldiers to keep the Japanese from secretly sailing to Dokdo to catch fish.

In a more commen-sense point of view, Dokdo is also twice as far from Japan than it is from Korea, and has long been considered a part of the Korean geological scape together with Eulleungdo, a slightly bigger island very closely located to Dokdo.

The Korean cyber diplomatic agency VANK has been making to reverse unfair claims about Dokdo, and has been making efforts and has made significant progress. Many international geographic sites have now altered their information to mention the name as "Dokdo" along with the more conventionally used name "Liancourt Rocks".

Dokdo at sunset

Many Koreans seek to settle this matter as soon as possible, as continuing controversies may foster the growth of currently existing anti-Japanese sentiments in Korea.