South Korea has designated 2026 as the “Year of Hangeul” (한글의 해), marking the convergence of three significant milestones in the history of the Korean writing system: the 580th anniversary of King Sejong’s promulgation of Hunminjeongeum (the original name for Hangeul), the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangeul Day itself, and the 100th anniversary of Hunmaengjeongeum — the Korean Braille system developed to extend Hangeul’s accessibility to blind Koreans.
The triple-anniversary framing has prompted a coordinated push across Korean cultural institutions, with the National Hangeul Museum planning an expanded slate of programming throughout the year aimed at both domestic audiences and the growing population of foreign learners engaging with Korean language and culture — a population that has grown substantially alongside the broader global hallyu wave.
For international audiences, the Year of Hangeul designation is expected to translate into expanded educational resources: the National Hangeul Museum has announced plans to broaden distribution of Hangeul teaching materials and instructional videos to Sejong Institutes and university Korean-language departments abroad, aiming to deepen not just character recognition but understanding of the cultural and historical context behind the writing system’s creation.
The inclusion of Hunmaengjeongeum’s centennial alongside the more widely known Hunminjeongeum anniversary is a deliberate curatorial choice, highlighting a less internationally famous but historically significant chapter in Hangeul’s story — the early 20th-century adaptation of the Hangeul system into a tactile Braille format by educator Park Du-seong, which extended Korean literacy access to blind Koreans during the Japanese colonial period.
Cultural officials have framed the Year of Hangeul less as a single flagship event and more as a sustained, year-long program of exhibitions, competitions, and educational initiatives, reflecting the writing system’s ongoing symbolic importance to Korean national identity even as its practical use has, of course, never been in question domestically.
Source: National Hangeul Museum “Year of Hangeul” (한글의 해) 2026 program announcement.
