**Last updated on: 15 October 2020**
In my blog post dated 6 May 2017 on Korean banknotes, you may learn more about some famous Korean historical figures through their portraits on the banknotes. In fact, you also have the chance to do so when you’re walking around in South Korea – some of the roads are named after some great Korean historical figures. In this blog post, I will share some examples with you. Continue reading
In the past couple of weeks, I watched some of my favourite Korean TV dramas aired sometime ago again, and one of them is the “Queen In-Hyun’s Man” (인현왕후의 남자). In this TV drama, the male protagonist, a scholar supporting the reinstatement of the deposed Queen In-Hyun in the Joseon Dynasty time-travelled to the 2012 Seoul, and fell in love with an actress who was cast as Queen In-Hyun in a TV drama. The male protagonist read the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (the “Joseon Annals”) in 2012 Seoul to learn about the history of his time, and time-travelled back to the Joseon Dynasty to use this knowledge to beat his political opponents. In fact, the Joseon Annals are the only extant dynastic annals in South Korea – they are designated national treasure of South Korea and are inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Let’s learn more about them in this post. Continue reading
Today (i.e., 9 October 2015) is Hangeul Day (한글날) in South Korea. This day celebrates the promulgation of Hangeul (한글), the Korean alphabet, invented by King Sejong the Great (새종대왕) in 1446, and is a national holiday in South Korea. In my blog post dated 21 May 2015, I have talked about the background, principles and features of Hangeul, and introduced some tourist spots relating to Hangeul. On this Hangeul Day, let’s talk about some more interesting facts and features of the Korean language. Continue reading
The writing systems of nearly all languages over the world have evolved gradually from long long time ago so it is impossible to trace who their inventors were. Hangeul (한글), the Korean alphabet system, is perhaps the only one still in use today that you can trace its inventor. It was invented by King Sejong the Great (새종대왕) with the help of his scholars and was promulgated in 1446. In my blog post dated 16 January 2015, I mentioned that King Sejong the Great (the 4th king of the Joseon Dynasty) had many significant achievements during his reign, one of which was the invention of hangeul. In this blog post, let’s talk about some interesting information about hangeul. Continue reading
**Last updated on: 15 October 2020**
Question: What do Korean King Sejong and Leonardo da Vinci have in common?
Answer: Both are men of many talents and great inventors.
Leonardo da Vinci is well-known as a painter but he is also an inventor, sculptor, mathematician and engineer. Like da Vinci, Korean King Sejong also had talents in many fields and with the help of his subordinates, had introduced a large number of inventions with huge impact on the society not only during his reign but even today. Continue reading
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