This year's Hangeul Week is slated from Oct. 6-17 across the country. Shown is a scene on Oct. 11, 2025, from the Hangeul fashion show of the festival Hangeul Hanmadang. (Official website of 2026 Hangeul Week)
By Margareth Theresia
Hangeul Week, an annual nationwide celebration slated from Oct. 6-17, will reflect on the past 100-year history of Hangeul Day and promote the value and future of the Korean alphabet.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Oct. 2 announced its hosting of a variety of cultural and artistic events under the theme "Hangeul by My Side." This year's Hangeul marks the 580th anniversary of the promulgation of the Hunminjeongeum (The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People), the first text on Hangeul, and the centennial anniversary of the holiday.
The main event is the festival Hangeul Hanmadang from Oct. 6-8 at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul's Jongno-gu District, featuring musicals, poetry readings, songs and storytelling. Around 20 interactive programs are scheduled including a Hangeul playground for children and experiential activities.
A celebration on the eve of Hangeul Day is slated for Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square. The highlight will be "Twenty-Four, the Universe," a video projection on the square's exterior wall to show the alphabet's 24 consonants and vowels forming constellations.
The video will be screened from Oct. 8-11 from 8-11 p.m.
Over the same period, the National Hangeul Museum will host the Hangeul Cultural Industry Exhibition also at Gwanghwamun Square. The event will showcase and sell related cultural products and content.
Celebrations are also planned across the country. The Sejong Hangeul Festival in Sejong is slated from Oct. 9-11 and the Hangeul Run race on Oct. 9. The National Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon's Yeonsu-gu District will present from Oct. 7 through January the exhibition "Hunmaengjeongeum."
Twenty-two Korean-language and culture centers nationwide will also host programs for the public like Hangeul culture experiences, contests and book review competitions.
"Hangeul is the driving force behind the flourishing of our culture," Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young said. "Because Korean culture is now loved by people around the world under the name 'K-culture,' I look forward to Hangeul, which has stood by our side all this time, to moving beyond its first 100 years toward a new future."
margareth@korea.kr
