Korean Alphabet Hangul. (Dr. Simram)

One example of unique Korean culture is Hangul, the Korean alphabet. There are no records in history of a king made a writing system for the benefit of the common people except in Korea. The Korean alphabet has an exact purpose and objective. So its use cannot be compared with other languages.

For example, each Chinese character has a meaning, so people have to memorize all of them, but the Korean alphabet is made of phonetic letters just like English. Anyone can learn Hangul in a day, that is why it is called 'morning letter'. It is easy to learn because it can be put together with 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Hangul has 8,000 different kinds of sound and it is possible to write each sound.

Because Japanese letters imitate Chinese characters, they cannot be used without Chinese characters. The chinese government secretly sent scholars to the United States to alphabetize its language. Chinese is too difficult to learn, therefore the illiteracy rate is very high. Chinese thought it would weaken national competitive power.

Hangul has an independent reading and writing system. It can be used on its own, but some old generations like to use Hangul along with Chinese characters education.

This is an anachronism and absolutely against the globalization of Hangul. Even the Chinese government recognized the weak points of its writing system for the coming 21st century.

Latin was used as an official language of the Roman Catholic church. It has been used as a custom or religious authority for people who in Western societies, Latin is disappearing.

Hangul was invented 500 years ago. but it has only been used for 100 years by all Koreans. Now it is standing in the world proudly with its value. Korean has been chosen as a foreign language in some universities in the United States and Australia. Now large Korean companies are building Factories in some Asian and Eastern European countries. These companies have invested a lot of money. The managers of those companies are also learning Hangul.

It is time to invest money and to make an effort to develop Hangul for the 21st century like the French government has done. The language of the future has a strong economic value. Hangul is seven times faster in computer operation ability than Chinese or Japanese.

When Windows appears on your screen, Hangul is breathing on the tips of your fingers beyond the time barrier.

The 21st century will be the age of information. National competitive power depends on the quantity and quality of information. Therefore the national goal for the Clinton administration is to end illiteracy. The American literacy rate is only 79%. The Korean illiteracy rate is near the zero percent mark, because Hangul is easy.