Jongno-gu presents "Reading Hangul, Meeting Korea," a media art installation at Gwanghwamun Square marking the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day — six pure Korean words, from "yunseul" to "mirinai," light up the square at nine minutes past every hour through Sunday.
Jongno-gu is inscribing the beauty of the Korean language onto Gwanghwamun Square to mark the 580th Hangul Day and the 100th anniversary of the holiday's establishment.
The district is presenting the "Gwanghwamun Square Hangul Day Commemorative Media Art Project" under the theme "Reading Hangul, Meeting Korea." The video runs from Monday through Sunday, broadcasting at nine minutes past every hour — a nod to the number nine, symbolic of Hangul Day, which falls on Oct. 9.
The roughly 60-second video opens with screens announcing the "580th Hangul Day" and the "100th Anniversary of Hangul Day." It then unfolds six pure Korean words in sequence — "yunseul" (rippling light on water), "hanuibaram" (a westerly breeze), "yeoubi" (sun shower), "kkotbora" (a flurry of flower petals), "haegeureum" (dusk) and "mirinai" (the Milky Way) — each brought to life through imagery that captures the word's precise meaning. The production weaves together native Korean vocabulary and scenes from all four seasons so that the act of reading a word becomes an experience of feeling it.
Sunlight shattering into tiny glimmers on the water's surface evokes "yunseul," while a westerly wind rustling branches and fabric conjures "hayebaRam." Raindrops falling from a sun-lit sky become "yeouBi," and petals scattered by the breeze earn the name "kkotbora." A sky and sea bleeding red at day's end summon "haegeureum," and the Milky Way arcing across the night sky closes the piece as "mirinai."
Throughout the video, the curved eaves and wind-bell tips of hanok blend with natural landscapes to deepen the Korean atmosphere. The piece closes with the line: "Hangul — capturing a moment of the world in a single word." It is a fitting conclusion that reflects on the power of a mother tongue to catch even the smallest textures of daily life, and on the meaning of seeing and recording the world through its letters.
The district hopes the work will prompt viewers to reflect on the value of hangul and to seek out and use its more graceful expressions in everyday life.
Jongno-gu also plans to consistently present cultural content that draws on the district's distinctive blend of history and modernity, with the aim of developing Gwanghwamun Square into a leading cultural hub for South Korea.
The project is the fifth installment of the "Gwanghwamun Square Five National Holidays Project," following commemorative videos for March 1 Independence Movement Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day and National Foundation Day. The district has been combining the symbolic weight of Gwanghwamun with cutting-edge media technology so that passersby naturally encounter the meaning of each national holiday.
"Words like 'yunseul' and 'mirinai,' which capture fleeting moments in nature, carry within them the delicate gaze of our ancestors as they looked at the world," Jongno-gu District Mayor Yoo Chan-jong said. "I hope this video becomes an occasion to reflect on the beauty of hangul and the preciousness of our mother tongue."
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