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Why did King Sejong create Hangul in 1443?

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Map of the Korean Peninsula highlighted in orange, showing North Korea in the north and South Korea in the south. The peninsula is bordered by China and Russia to the north, the Yellow Sea to the west, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the east, and Japan across the sea to the southeast. A small inset globe at the top left shows the peninsula's location in East Asia. — Korea Map of the Korean Peninsula, indicating northern and southern regions.

King Sejong developed Hangul in 1443 primarily to facilitate the achievement of literacy among the Korean people.1

At the time, the written medium of communication in Korea was Chinese, which was difficult to adapt to the Korean language and inaccessible to the general population. By creating an easily learned, phonetic alphabet, Sejong sought to provide a practical system for instruction. He originally named the script Hunminjeongeum, which translates to "Proper Sounds to Instruct the People," reflecting his intent to empower the populace through accessible writing.231