Korea to build Hangeul museum in Seoul by 2013

Work will begin on a museum of Hangeul, the Korean writing system, at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Wednesday.

The Hangeul Museum will be a three-story building with 4,200 square meters of space for exhibition rooms, lecture rooms, seminar rooms, a cafeteria and a souvenir shop, the ministry said. The building will also have a parking lot in the basement. 

The permanent exhibition room will feature content including how Koreans communicated prior to the creation of Hangeul in the Joseon Dynasty and what principles were applied to Hunminjeongeum, a document explaining the new script for the Korean language, written by King Sejong (1397―1450).

Visitors will be also able to compare Hangeul with other international letters, learn the Korean letters and search for Hangeul-related data and information, the ministry said.

The construction, costing 36.8 million won ($34,500), is expected to be completed by the first half of 2013, it said.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)