Korean Hangul and Mongolian Square Script

Abstract

Korean is the official language in the Republic of Korea and the DPRK, where it is called Hangul and Chosongyl respectively. For a long time, Koreans had used a complex system of Khancha before in 1444 King Sejon the Great created the Korean alphabet, but Khanch remains an important element in the life of Koreans to these days. The current research aims to find out what writing system was the predecessor of the new writing system, particularly, whether the Mongolian square script could have become the “progenitor” of Korean writing. The question of the origin of Hangul is interesting and, at the same time, challenging for many researchers. In Russia, L. R. Kontsevich, a Soviet and Russian Orientalist-Korean scholar, studied this issue. In this article we examine the theory of American Korean scholar Gary Ledyard and his assumption about Hangul originating from the Mongolian square script.