First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Oh Young-woo (left) and Microsoft Korea CEO Lee Ji Eun on Sept. 8 show their signed memorandum of understanding at the National Hangeul Museum on raising the use of copyright-free "safe font files." 

By Joung Haseung and You Young Ha 

Photos = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Korean typefaces available at no charge and with no copyright issues will be available around the world within this year on all Microsoft Office platforms. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture Information Service Agency (KCISA) on Sept. 8 held an event at the National Hangeul Museum under the theme (unofficial title) "Increasing Use of 'Safe Font Files' to Mark International Literacy Day." The files are typefaces usable for free and without the threat of copyright claims. 

The ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Korea at the event. Under the agreement, 12 fonts released by five organizations -- Chilgok-gun County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, National Library of Korea, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, Seoul's Mapo-gu District and Wando-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province -- will be installed in all Microsoft Office programs. 

The typefaces released by the nation, local governments and public organizations were selected based on criteria such as clear copyrights, number of downloads, and effectiveness of delivering Korean culture and content. 

The 12 fonts will be installed in Word, PowerPoint and all other Microsoft Office programs through a Microsoft cloud service after undergoing a technical test. The move is expected to ease access to Korean typefaces for the estimated 81 million Korean-language users worldwide. 

Since March last year, 155 copyright-free fonts (113 public and 42 civic) have been available on the ministry's official website. 

First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Oh Young-woo said, "It is meaningful that Korean-language users, including students at 234 branches of King Sejong Institute around the world, can access various typefaces," adding, "The ministry will continue creating a healthy font culture and expanding the charm of Hangeul worldwide."  

The typefaces (unofficial translations) applied to Microsoft Office programs are (from left) Andong Kkaturi, five Mapo fonts, five Chilgok fonts, National Central Library and Wando Hope.