"The root of the Korean Wave — K-pop, K-dramas — sweeping the world today is Hangeul. To spread Hangeul globally, we Koreans must first understand its excellence and greatness."
Novelist Kim Jin-myung, returning after three years with his new full-length novel *Sejong's Nation*, made the remarks in a recent interview with the Seoul Economic Daily at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, Seoul, explaining what motivated him to write the book. The novel weaves fact and fiction to depict how King Sejong pushed through his ministers' opposition to create Hunminjeongeum, the original script that became modern Hangeul.
Kim, widely credited with opening a new chapter in Korean historical fiction, said he agonized long before taking on a novel about the creation of Hangeul. "Writing about the most outstanding king in our history creating Hangeul, the nation's greatest cultural asset, is every author's dream," he said. "But the achievement is so monumental that I could not pick up my pen lightly."
He added, "I also felt deep regret that there had not been a single literary work that properly dealt with Hangeul. Having previously written *The Letter War*, which explored Chinese characters, and *Jikji*, which dealt with metal movable type, I felt a strong sense of mission to produce a work that captures Hangeul with genuine sincerity."
To write the novel, Kim studied the principles behind Hangeul's creation in depth. Through that process, he said he realized that Hangeul's excellence lies in its ability to generate an infinite number of character combinations through simple straight strokes.
"For a writing system to succeed, its symbols must above all be simple. It is similar to building a house — you can create countless shapes with a single rectangular brick. The greatest feature and greatness of Hangeul is that it produces a near-infinite number of character combinations by joining or curling straight strokes into letters like 'ㄱ,' 'ㄴ,' and 'ㅇ,'" he said.
Kim also emphasized that Sejong's creation of Hangeul was a "revolution" that transformed Joseon's power structure. "At the time, only the 4% of the population who were aristocrats — the yangban — could read and write Chinese characters. The remaining 96% were illiterate," he said. "Because power derived not from swords and guns but from letters, a structure persisted in which the yangban, who monopolized the written word, maintained their autocratic rule."
