Hangeul Week

Events to Celebrate Hangeul Day

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

In August, ``hangeul,’’ the Korean alphabet, was adopted as the official writing system of the village of Bau-Bau, Indonesia by the Cia-Cia tribe for their native language. The adoption has given the Korean native script a fresh spotlight.

Promulgated in the 15th century by Sejong the Great (1397-1450), one of the greatest rulers of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), hangeul consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. The combination of a consonant and a vowel forms a syllable and thus, hangeul is capable of creating thousands of words and expressing virtually any sound.

For its simplicity and relatively limited number of characters compared to Chinese characters, hangeul was devised for commoners, especially for women during the Joseon era, to gain literacy.

Due to the ease of learning this alphabet, South Korea has one of the world's lowest illiteracy rates at 1.7 percent, according to statistics published in 2008.
The Korean language is the world's 13th most-spoken language. More than 77 million people speak it.

The Korean alphabet was devised by Sejong the Great but the term hangeul was coined by Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong in 1910.

To celebrate the 563rd anniversary of the alphabet’s birth on Oct. 9, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced Hangeul Week from Oct. 6 to 12, and is preparing various cultural events related in celebration.

Hangeul Space Exhibition

A special exhibition titled ``Hangeul Space Exhibition’’ is presenting media art installations using the shapes of the Korean alphabet and historical letters written in hangeul, along with a poetry recitation by local novelists, poets and calligraphers in the front courtyard of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul On Oct. 8-11.

The exhibition halls are divided into bamboo and balloon spaces. In the balloon-shaped exhibition hall, four participants ― Roh Seung-gwan, Roh Joo-hwan, Chung Yeon-hyeon and Choi Seung-joon ― will display their artwork including fabric, media art and installations.

In the bamboo exhibition hall, about 30 pieces featuring letters written in hangeul during the Joseon period will be highlighted. The exhibit includes Yi Jang-ik’s letter in hangeul to his mother and in Chinese characters to his father in 1846.

The ministry said that Yi’s letter is a rare case because it is written in both sets of characters on the same sheet, showing the use of the alphabet had an apparent different purpose dependent on who was reading it during the Joseon era.

Hangeul Exhibition Project

The exhibition group ``Geul, Chek, Mal’’ (Writing, Book, Words) is holding the ``Ganpantuseongi (a web of signs)’’ event from Oct. 8 to 22 at KT&G Sangsangmadang Art Market to seek new possibilities for Korean signs.

The exhibition is part of the ``Hangeul Exhibition Project’’ to promote the beauty and excellence of Korea’s cultural legacy and written language.

This year’s exhibition showcases the beauty of hangeul, with artistic signboards lining the streets and adorning shop awnings.

The exhibition was designed to beautify city streets while at the same time, allowing local artists to venture even further into their craft and create new pieces of work to be displayed to the public every day.

Twenty-five artists, including calligraphers Kang Byung-in and Park Kum-jun, and painter Lee Mok-ul, joined together to create an innovative exhibition in the making of signboards.

The participating artists created splendid hangeul signboards for real shops in their neighborhoods, their workroom or their company.

This unprecedented exhibition is expected to give creative stimulation and an alternative approach to signboard culture, breaking the perception that Korean signboards are unfashionable, and prove that hangeul is visually sophisticated and holds high artistic value as Korea’s greatest cultural legacy. For more information, call (02) 330-6225.

Hangeul Dance

The Milmul Modern Dance Company led by choreographer and artistic director Lee Sook-jae will present the troupe’s 100th performance ― since it was launched in 1984 ― inspired by hangeul on Oct. 13 and 14 at the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts in southern Seoul.

Titled ``Finding Huminjeongeum Treasures,’’ the upcoming dance performance will bring a unique genre by blending dance and Korean traditional art together.

Every year, the group comes up with a new repertoire based on the Korean alphabet and also holds performances where they present words and letters with their bodies.

This year’s show is based on ``Yongbieocheonga’’ and ``Wolincheongangjigok,’’ which are regarded as the first literature pieces ever written in hangeul.

The dance will embody the group’s adventure of finding hangeul through subtle body movements.

Tickets cost 30,000 to 100,000 won. For more information, call (02) 578-6810.

International Gatherings

Some 300 Korean language teachers from 63 countries are taking part in the World Korean Language Teachers’ Conference for the anniversary at the Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul from Oct. 7 to 9.

During the conference, Canada's Ross King from the University of British Columbia and former culture minister Lee O-young will give lectures to share their experience and view about how to better teach the Korean language.

In a separate event, ten recipients of the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize including Khalidou SY from Senegal, Pilli Dumea from Tanzania, Gina Mumba Chiwela from Zambia and Subhalakshmi Nandi from India will be invited to Korea on Oct. 9.

The prize funded by the South Korean government and established in 1989 is given to individuals and groups that make contributions to promoting their mother tongue on Sept. 8 every year.

The recipients and jury of the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize will participate in various cultural events during Hangeul Week.

Sejong Institute

The culture ministry said it will increase the number of language schools named ``Sejong Institute’’ to 500 worldwide by 2015 from the current 35.

According to the government, the current language centers teaching hangeul around the world are mostly in North America and Japan under different names.

``So we will change the names of the language institutes that are scattered around the world with different names into the Sejong Institute and also standardize the educational curriculum to enhance the educational brand of the Korean language,’’ a ministry official said.

Due to the growing popularity of Korean pop culture in Asia, more than 6.15 million people from 133 countries are learning Korean through institutes or private tutors each year, according to the government.

Also, the government will operate Web sites (www.wejonghakdang.org) to offer information about Korean history and culture as well as the language from Oct. 9.
The ministry will open the ``Hangeul Culture Center’’ in 2012.

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr