00. The History:
세종대왕과 한글 (King Sejong and Hangeul):
The Great King Sejong was the fourth reigning ruler during the Joseon Era. Many Korean people say that King Sejong was the greatest ruler in Korean history. One of the main reasons is that he invented "Hangeul" (hangul). Before hangeul was invented, koreans used chinese characters, "Hanja", when writing. However, hanja didn't fit the structure and special characteristics of the Korean language, making the use of it a bit uncomfortable. For this reason, King Sejong, who had much learning in the study of linguistics, created hangeul, which maches the distinguishing characteristics of the Korean sounds. Hangeul consists of fourteen consonants and ten vowels, making it easy to remember and convenient to use.
(© Exploring Korean (Beginner's Book I) by IIE and Kyung Hee University.)
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