The Hangeul Journey
2026 marks exactly a hundred years since the first Gagyanal in 1926. The date of Hangeul Day changed several times in between, and it has been celebrated on 9 October only since 1945. Only events confirmed by primary records and public institutions are listed.
All: 13 events
December 1443 (25th year of King Sejong)
At the end of the entries for the twelfth month of 1443, the Veritable Records of King Sejong note, without giving a day, that “this month the king created 28 letters of eonmun”. It is the first official record of the alphabet’s creation.
First ten days of the ninth month, 1446 (28th year of King Sejong)
Jeong In-ji’s postface in the Haerye edition is dated “the first ten days of the ninth month of the 28th year of Sejong”. It is often called the “promulgation”, but scholars read the Sillok entry for that month as the completion of the Haerye manuscript.
4 November 1926 (29th day of the ninth lunar month)
For the 480th anniversary of the promulgation, the Korean Language Research Society (today’s Hangeul Society) and Sinmin-sa held the first ceremony at the Sikdowon restaurant. The day was named Gagyanal, after the “ga-gya-geo-gyeo” drill used to learn the script, and the name later settled as Hangeul Day.
4 November 1926
Park Du-seong (1888–1963), who taught blind students at Jesaengwon, announced Hunmaengjeongeum, a six-dot Korean braille he developed with his students.
around 1931–32
To stop the date moving every year under the lunar calendar, the 29th day of the ninth lunar month of 1446 was converted to the solar calendar, and the day began to be observed on 29 October.
1934
Following advice that the date should be recalculated with the Gregorian rather than the Julian calendar, the ceremony was held on 28 October from 1934.
July 1940
The discovery of the Haerye edition of Hunminjeongeum made known Jeong In-ji’s date “first ten days (上澣) of the ninth month”, which later became the basis for 9 October.
1942
After the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937 the ceremony became hard to hold, and in 1942 the Korean Language Society incident put all of its organisers in prison.
1945
After liberation, public ceremonies began to be held on 9 October — the solar equivalent of the tenth day of the ninth month, the last of the “first ten days”.
1991
From 1991 Hangeul Day was dropped from the list of public holidays on the grounds that there were too many; commemorations continued.
8 December 2005
The National Assembly passed an amendment to the Act on National Holidays designating Hangeul Day a national day.
2013
In December 2012 the Cabinet approved an amendment to the Regulations on Public Holidays, making Hangeul Day a public holiday again from 2013.
2026
A hundred years since the first Gagyanal in 1926, 580 years since the Haerye edition (1446) and a hundred years since Hunmaengjeongeum.