Hangeul, one of the most indigenous and unique creations of the nation, was introduced in 1443 by King Sejong (1418-1450), the 4th king of the Joseon Dynasty. In order to help all commoners to easily read and write, Hunminjeongeum (meaning "Proper sounds to instruct the people" in Korean) is the former name for the present day Korean alphabet, and it is created to explain the principles and purpose of hangeul, as well as how to use and pronounce the letters. The name was then changed to ‘Hangeul’ by the later generations since 1910, a term widely used today.
Hangeul is a series of creative and scientifically created characters. With consonants and vowels as the fundamentals, a dot or a line is added to form an alphabet. The 5 main consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅅ, ㅁ, ㅇ) imitate the shape of lips and tongue make when trying to pronounce that particular sound while the 3 main vowels (ㆍ, ㅡ, ㅣ) symbolize the sky, the earth and mankind respectively. Originally composed of 17 consonants and 11 vowels when it was first conceived, hangeul has only 14 consonants and 10 vowels used now.
In addition, hangeul is a national written language that does not have any direct influence from pre-existing writing systems. The language is very easy for all to learn, evidenced by Korea's illiteracy rates being one of the lowest in the world. Of all Korea's cultural assets, the citizens are proudest of hangeul and thus designated every October 9th as Hangeul Day, to memorialize and celebrate the invention of the alphabet. With that, UNESCO designated Hunminjeongeum; the hangeul manuscript, as a Memory of the World Register in 1997.
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