Sejong the Great of Joseon

Sejong the Great (May 6 1397 – May 18 1450), born Yi Do, was the fourth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1418 to 1450. He was also a skilled linguist who apparently personally created the native Korean alphabet Hangul. Although there are circumstantial clues he may have been assisted by family members, most believe that he was the one who actually invented the alphabet, mainly due to the resistance he faced from the intellectuals of the day.

Further reading

• King Sejong the Great: the Light of Fifteenth Century Korea, Young-Key Kim-Renaud, International Circle of Korean Linguistics, 1992, softcover, 119 pages, ISBN 1-882177-00-2