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Research Article

The Necessity of Hangul Globalization and Its Empirical Methods

Ko, Jeyun

Published: January 2008 · Vol. 37, No. 7 · pp. 75-98
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Abstract

This study aims to create writing systems for peoples without written languages through the re-creation of Hangul. Its significance lies in disseminating writing systems to peoples without written languages through the re-creation of Hangul, one of the greatest cultural contents of the Korean people. To this end, this is an empirical study on methods to enable the creation of writing systems for peoples without written languages by establishing one-to-one correspondence rules for phonetic values that current Hangul inadequately represents, through the re-creation of Hangul. According to varying scholarly estimates, approximately 5,800 to 7,000 languages currently exist on Earth. Among these, approximately 2,000 languages lack a writing system, and more than 75% of those 2,000 peoples are known to be located in Africa and Southeast Asia. The purpose of this study is to disseminate Hangul to these regions without writing systems. Of course, the Hangul proposed here differs from the Hangul we currently use, as it is insufficient for this purpose—these peoples possess sounds that do not exist in our writing system. In this regard, this effort fundamentally differs from some existing efforts to disseminate current Hangul as it is. Because current Hangul is incomplete for representing these sounds, characters to express them are needed, necessitating the "re-creation of Hunminjeongeum," and the purpose of this study is to present the feasibility and methodology for this endeavor. Through this, it becomes possible to envision a global village united through Hangul characters by disseminating a writing system to all peoples on Earth. Furthermore, culturally, it can permanently preserve the languages of peoples without writing systems, preventing the disappearance of precious global languages. This endeavor also represents the most necessary and accessible path for the Republic of Korea to become a culturally advanced nation. Our writing can spread throughout the global village through Hangul, which will be recorded in human history. This will serve as an occasion for the "love for the people" expressed by King Sejong in the preface to the creation of Hunminjeongeum to be sublimated from national compassion into love for all humanity. To this end, by examining the process of Romanization and its notational problems in Malay-Indonesian, a language used by 300 million people, this study aims to present the feasibility and utility of replacing Romanization with Hangul characters for Asian and African languages, and furthermore, the possibility of converting these languages into Hangul-based writing systems through the re-creation of Hangul.
Keywords: 한글세계화한글의 재창조