King Sejong and the Path of Hangeul

Long ago, this land had no writing of its own. To write, people had to borrow Chinese characters. Those characters were terribly hard to learn — you had to study for many years just to read a little. So very few people could read or write. Even when someone was wronged, they could not write down their complaint. At the government office someone else would write it for them, but there was no way to know whether that person had written it correctly. The king felt sorry about this. The king began to make letters in secret, hidden from his officials. He worked at it until his eyes grew weak and his sight went blurry. When he said the letters were finished, the officials objected. They said only barbarians used their own writing. Still, the king put them forth. There were twenty-eight letters. He named these letters Hunminjeongeum. It means "the right sounds to teach the people." The very letters you are reading now are those letters. The one you will meet today is that king. Just one thing. This king speaks in a difficult way. You have to ask him to say it in plain words before you can understand him.