A drone show on Oct. 9 is held as part of a nighttime program of the Sejong City Hangeul Festival, with 2,000 drones depicting King Sejong the Great and his process of creating and promulgating Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae

An academic conference to mark the centennial Hangeul Day was held on Oct. 12 at Daloreum Theater of the National Museum of Korea in Seoul.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Federation of Korean Language and Culture Institutes, the forum discussed the directions of Hangeul (Korean alphabet) and the Korean language over the next century.

Participants discussed strategies for promoting Korean as a global language and raising the competitiveness of Korean-language data and technology in the age of artificial intelligence.

Titled "The Next 100 Years of Hangeul: Beyond Borders, Toward the World," the opening theme focused on the creation of a sustainable framework for Hangeul's spread and globalization strategies.

The second, "Digital Convergence and Evolution: Hangeul and the Korean Language in the Era of Large-scale AI," explored how Korean can rise as a major language within the digital ecosystem.

The panel discussion saw experts explore the directions for Korean-language policy.

jihlee08@korea.kr