SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - At Seoul’s must-visit Gwanghwamun Square, two imposing tenants loom over the crowds — one standing and one seated.
The seated figure is Sejong the Great, the 15th-century monarch who gave Koreans their own alphabet.
South Korea marks the 100th anniversary of Hangeul Day on Friday, a national holiday honoring his creation of a writing system that has traveled far beyond the kingdom for which it was invented.
Sejong and his Gwanghwamun neighbor Admiral Yi Sun-sin remain among Korea’s most revered historical figures. Sejong also graces the 10,000-won banknote, making his face familiar even to those who have never visited the square.
He would have reason to be proud of how far his letters have traveled. From classrooms in Europe to convenience stores in Central Asia, Hangeul is gaining recognition as Korean attracts new learners and companies turn its distinctive characters into a marketing advantage.
Nearly six centuries after its creation, an alphabet intended to give ordinary Koreans a voice is finding readers in places its inventor could never have imagined.
The government-funded King Sejong Institute Foundation recorded 239,020 enrollments in 2025, including online courses, up from 210,374 a year earlier and more than double the 2020 figure.
Its network has expanded to 273 institutes in 89 countries, with Greece, Rwanda and Sri Lanka joining the map this year.
Korean is also gaining ground in ordinary school timetables. At the end of 2025, 2,777 primary and secondary schools in 47 countries offered Korean classes, according to Education Ministry figures. That was 54 percent more schools than in 2021, with enrollment reaching 236,089.
Uzbekistan accounted for 68 schools added between 2024 and 2025, the largest increase in any country over that period.
For learners without a nearby classroom, there is the phone. Korean overtook Italian to become Duolingo’s sixth most-studied language worldwide in 2025. The platform’s expansion of courses into more learners’ native languages helped widen access.
K-pop, dramas and films offer an obvious invitation. A favorite song can prompt a first lesson; a television series can turn subtitles into something viewers would rather do without.
But the reasons for continuing increasingly extend beyond entertainment. Korean also offers a route toward university study, employment and professional connections. The language that brings fans closer to a singer may eventually bring students to a campus or applicants to a job interview.
Businesses, meanwhile, are discovering that customers do not always need to read Korean for its letters to make an impression.
For years, English branding offered Korean companies an international look. Now some are putting their Korean identity front and center.
Nongshim opened a Shin Ramyun food experience near Peru’s Machu Picchu in 2025, using the Korean word bunsik, a term for inexpensive casual foods such as noodles and snacks. Similar experiences followed in Tokyo’s Harajuku district and Ho Chi Minh City.
Burger chain Lotteria put its name in prominent Korean lettering at its first U.S. restaurant in Fullerton, California, which opened in August 2025. The company said the sign emphasized the brand’s Korean identity.
The approach extends to snack packaging and fashion. Orion has used Korean lettering on products in Vietnam, Lotte Wellfood on products introduced in Kazakhstan, and Matin Kim on clothing that replaces its familiar English-language logo with Korean characters.
Even Coca-Cola has joined in. Its 2024 K-pop-inspired K-Wave drink featured “코카-콜라” on packaging released in 36 markets, including the United States, France and Japan.
The letters signal an association with Korean culture before a customer sounds out a syllable. On a drink can or a shopfront, the script itself has become part of the appeal.
That commercial afterlife would have been far removed from Sejong’s original purpose.
When he developed the alphabet in 1443, educated Koreans relied heavily on Chinese characters. Mastering them required years of study, and they were ill-suited to expressing the sounds and grammar of everyday Korean.
Sejong, the fourth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, wanted people beyond the educated elite to be able to express themselves in writing.
In 1446, the new system was formally introduced through Hunminjeongeum, meaning “The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People,” the name given both to the script and the document explaining it.
Its design remains part of its fascination.
The basic consonants reflect the positions of speech organs, including the tongue and mouth. The original vowel shapes drew on the philosophical elements of heaven, earth and humanity.
Rather than running in a line of separate letters, consonants and vowels fit together into syllable blocks. What may look to a beginner like a collection of complex symbols is an alphabet assembled into compact units.
The original system had 28 letters. Modern standard use centers on 24 basic letters, comprising 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
Almost five centuries after its introduction, the alphabet acquired renewed significance as a symbol of identity.
In 1926, under Japanese colonial rule, Korean language scholars organized its first anniversary celebration. They called it Gagya Day, after the opening sounds traditionally used to teach the letters.
That first observance took place on Nov. 4. It became Hangeul Day in 1928, and the date was later settled as Oct. 9 after the discovery of a historical manuscript helped establish the timing of the alphabet’s promulgation.
An observance born of efforts to preserve Korean language and culture eventually became a national holiday.
A century after those scholars gathered, the task looks very different. Korean is taught in schools across continents, while its letters appear on restaurant signs, clothing and phone screens far beyond the peninsula.
Back in Gwanghwamun Square, Sejong remains seated with his book open and one hand raised. Visitors from around the world stop beneath his bronze throne, many carrying phones filled with the very characters he created.
His letters have traveled farther than he ever could. Designed to help Koreans put their thoughts into words, they are now helping new readers find their way into Korea.
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