Love of Korean Language
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt expressed his special affection for Korean culture, extolling the excellence of the Korean language Hangul.
On October 30, he participated in a meeting held at the National Hangul Museum for better cooperation for the promotion of Korean culture, which was hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He said during his keynote speech, “I heard that King Sejong created Hangul because many of his population could not use letters, and it is truly surprising that such an attempt was made as long as 600 years ago to systematize data and information for national integration and facilitate the use of them.”
“I believe that Hangul, the only self-developed set of characters in Asia, is one of the key factors which has enabled Korea to take the lead in the current digital era,” he went on, adding, “A character system is as important as a national system and its language itself, and Hangul, which still remains even after the transition from medieval Korean to modern Korean, has become the real essence of Korean culture.”
He mentioned that more and more people in Google are wising to better understand Hangul and publicize its cultural importance. “I am convinced that having a chance to learn the most intuitive language of the world online is something as meaningful as knowing about K-pop, Korean games, the traditional costume of Hanbok and traditional houses of Hanok,” he stressed.