The late Seok Geum-ho, former head of Sandol, will be posthumously awarded the Silver Medal of Culture for his contributions to the development of Hangul.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on October 6 that it has selected eight individuals and two organizations for the '2026 Hangul Development Contributions' awards.
The highest honor, the Silver Medal of Culture, will be awarded to the late Seok Geum-ho. He founded the font company Sandol and developed over 1,000 Hangul fonts over 40 years, significantly enhancing the cultural and artistic value of Hangul by providing diverse representations in computer environments.
The Bronze Medal of Culture will be awarded to Baek Tae-hyun, Vice President of the Central Asia Korean University, for his efforts in Korean language education and research on Koreans in Central Asia. He played a key role in establishing two Korean universities in Kyrgyzstan and has dedicated himself to nurturing the next generation of Korean studies experts through international cooperation initiatives.
The Cultural Award will be given to Jo Soo-jin, president of the Korean School Association of the Midwestern United States, for developing Korean language education programs for overseas Korean students, and to Choi Hong-sik, president of the King Sejong Institute Foundation, for his scholarly work on the phonetics of Hangul and research on the principles of its creation.
This year’s awards include one Silver Medal of Culture, one Bronze Medal of Culture, two Cultural Awards, three Presidential Citations, and three Prime Minister’s Citations. The awards ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on October 9 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, during the celebration of the 580th anniversary of Hangul Day.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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