Language

Many scholars say,

“Hangeul is the most scientific writing system in the world” or simply “The best alphabet in the world.”

In the Writing Systems by Professor Geoffrey Sampson, Rice University, it states:

“Hangeul has the most unique and scientific writing system which cannot be found elsewhere in the world.”

The late Linguistics Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, of Harvard University stated:

“Hangeul is the simplest, yet most advanced character set in the world.”

In The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, she wrote:

“Hangeul is the best alphabet one can dream of.”

As shown above, Hangeul has been highly praised throughout the world. Hangeul is the only writing system whose origin is confirmed in historical documents. King Sejong presided over the introduction of the 28 letter Korean alphabet in Hunminjeongeum (the first name for Hangeul) which was published in 1446. Hangeul is a phonemic alphabet, currently composed of 24 letters ? 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Since vowels have their own sounds, they can be read without phonetic signs. If the relation between sound and letter is understood, Hangeul can be easily written.

Because of its rational, scientific system and uniqueness, Hunminjeongeum was registered in UNESCO’s Memory of the World on October 1, 1997. In addition, the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize has been established to reward the activities of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations displaying merit and achieving particularly effective results in contributing to the fight for literacy.