Happy Hangul Day!

The day may be nearly over for those of you who are reading this in South Korea but I wanted to wish all Korean readers (and learners) “Happy Hangul Day”. Hangul Day (한글날), which is celebrated on October 9 in South Korea and on January 15 in North Korea, is a national commemoration day which celebrates the invention of the hangul alphabet. The Korean alphabet is said to have been invented by King Sejong the Great (세종대왕; 世宗大王) in the fifteenth century and it is generally accepted that the alphabet made its debut in 1446 in the document Hunmin Jeongeum (훈민정음;訓民正音).

Hyunwoo Sun, author of the blog Send Me to Korea,  asked readers from around the world to send in short messages written in the hangul alphabet. The video below is a montage of the messages he received.

More information on Hangul Day and the origins of the hangul alphabet can be found below :

• Wikipedia : Hangul Day
• Language Log: Hangul Day
• The Korea Herald : Why We Celebrate Korean Alphabet Day