Multi-purpose Cultural Center for Hangeul Lovers – Hangeul Café in Heyri, Paju

Hangeul, the Korean writing system, was created by King Sejong, the fourth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), who felt compassion for his people and the illiteracy they suffered because of the difficultly they had in learning Chinese characters. Today you can see Hangeul everywhere in Korea, but how much do we know about it? The advantages of Hangeul as a writing system as well as its scientific structure and aesthetic distinction may be better explained in Heyri, Paju.

Sowing Seeds for the Love of and Pride for Hangeul

“We hope you will become a more proud Korean here.”

I felt my heart throbbing as soon as I saw this sentence on the wall inside the Hangeul Tium building. I knew that all this happened because I am a Korean.

Many of us often fail to notice treasures although they have always been around us. I believe that our writing system, Hangeul, is one such treasure. We have been ignorant about Hangeul, how it was born, how it achieved its current status, and how many people devoted themselves to the standing it enjoys today.

Hangeul Tium is a branch of Sandol Tium, an affiliate of the renowned font design company Sandol Communication Inc., established in Paju. Located in Heyri, the institution offers exhibitions of Hangeul-related objects as well as participation-focused programs for the design of Hangeul fonts for T shirts, glass products and more. The programs are open to both Korean and foreign participants, and expected to contribute to promoting awareness about the scientific and artistic excellence of Hangeul.

Hangeul from the Artistic Point of View

I wanted to make a special T shirt with an artistic design conceived from Hangeul characters such as ‘ㅎ’. But Hyeon-ji’s dad beat me to it as he appeared in the Hangeul design event with a Korean character logo meaning ‘Hyeon-ji’s Dad’, and attracted loud applause from other participants. Hyeon-ji seemed to be very proud of her father’s work, as could be clearly seen by her beaming face. What made her proud was not just her father’s brilliant idea but also the excellent versatility of the Hangeul characters, symbols representing both vowels and consonants that are combined with each other in a variety of ways to create beautiful designs. Other participants also exhibit impressively creative designs made with, for instance, the consonant ‘ㅎ’ such as “Ho! Ho” and “haengbok (Happiness).” One participant presented a design of the word, “뿡” (bbung), made by using ‘ㅎ’ not as a consonant but a vowel.

There was a design that looks like the English word LOVE, but was actually ㄴ·ㅇ·ㅅ·ㅌ, a design made of four Hangeul characters. The ‘LOVE’ logo was placed on a piece standing at the entrance to the exhibition room. We were instantly attracted to the piece and took a souvenir family photo with it as a background. Then Hyeon-ji, who was closely examining the logo, suddenly cried:

“Mom! It’s not ‘love’,it’s a Hangeul word!”

She was right. It was surely a Hangeul logo consisting of four Hangeul characters: ㄴ, o, ㅅ and ㅌ. The discovery compelled all of us to take a second look at the piece, at the Hangeul logo printed on it in particular, and to admire the aesthetic excellence and potentiality of the Hangeul alphabets.

“Who can imagine that it could be Hangeul?” Hyeon-ji said. She couldn’t leave the logo for quite a while, as if entranced by its magic power.

I Love You, Hangeul.
We entered the exhibition hall. I personally expected that the exhibition would show us classical images of Hangeul, but remarkably most exhibits were very modern. One of the first exhibits that caught my eye was a comic book designed to give readers a general introduction to Hangeul, its origin, advantages as a writing system as appreciated by experts around the world, and the changes it has undergone through to today. Another eye-catcher was the reproduced study of Professor Kim Jin-pyeong, who was the first discoverer of Hangeul’s artistic versatility and a renowned Hangeul font designer. There was also a computer program designed to help visitors better understand the science behind the writing system. It showed me that Hangeul has continued to change according to times, making me feel sorry for my ignorance and indifference about this great cultural asset.

Today, the streets of Korea’s main cities are flooded with billboards and signs carrying foreign languages, English in particular, and a large number of organizations, pop singers and bands choose to use foreign names. The foreign names, or names written in foreign alphabets, may sound more modern and stylish, but the realization of my ignorance of the great writing system made solely for the Korean language made me feel shameful.

It was an exciting, productive family outing that offered everyone in my family an opportunity to significantly increase our understanding of Hangeul. With the visit, I became very proud that my family and I are all Korean. I hope my daughter, Hyeon-ji, who has just started to read Hangeul texts, has the same degree of pride. Hangeul is always around us and continuously reaffirms the pride felt by the Korean people.

Hangeul Tium Café (http://cafe.naver.com/hangeultium)

• Information
· Operation hours: 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00
· Admission fee: KRW 12,000 / Group admission: KRW 9,000 (20 or more; reservation required)
· Closed on Mondays; Lunch area available.
• Address: #1652 Beopheung-ri, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju City, Gyeonggi Province
• Phone 1688-1441
• Location: Gate 3, Heyri Art Valley

Gyeonggi Tourism Organization ㅣ Text by Gil In-seon, and Photography by Yi Jong-min

http://ggholic.tistory.com/595