10TH.OCT National Holiday HAN GEUL Day

한글 날 [HAN GEUL DAY]

Alternative holidays apply and October 10 becomes a holiday

It was Korean King Sejong, in conjunction with some scholars, who created Korea’s distinctive writing system. Three years after it was invented, it was first put into common use in 1446.

The purpose of the new system was to increase literacy levels in Korea. The complex non-alphabetic system in use up till then was simply too hard for the people at large to learn. Also, the old system had been based on Chinese writing, while the new one was uniquely Korean. For this reason, Hangeul Day is as much a patriotic holiday as it is a celebration of the Korean language and alphabet.