[Gallery Walk] From "Gagyageogyeo" to a National Holiday: Unfolding 100 Years of Hangeul Day

100th Anniversary Special Exhibition of Hangeul Day:

"Ilgu-Iryuk Infinite Takeoff"

Featuring 121 Items Including Malmoi Manuscripts, Great Dictionary of Joseon Language, and Hangeul Syllable Charts

From the First "Gagya Day" in 1926 t

'Gagya Geogyeo Gogyo Guyu...'

Special Exhibition Part 3 'Hangeul Day: Infinite Takeoff' Exhibition Hall. Visitors can explore photos, videos, and newspaper archives related to Hangeul Day accumulated over the past 100 years, and participate in a digital experience that completes the Hangeul Day festival. National Hangeul Museum

At first glance, it sounds like a child learning to pronounce letters for the first time. However, 100 years ago, the two syllables "Gagya" were used as the name for what we now call "Hangeul." In fact, the very first name for Hangeul Day was "Gagya Day." This leads to a question that we rarely ask simply because we're so accustomed to the day: When and how did October 9 become established as Hangeul Day?

The special exhibition "Ilguiryuk, Infinite Takeoff," held on the third floor of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Jongno-gu, Seoul starting October 2, seeks to answer that question by taking a journey back 100 years. Organized to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Hangeul Day, the exhibition, which runs until February 9 next year, features 116 pieces (121 items in total) of Hangeul cultural materials.

The title "Ilguiryuk" refers to the year 1926, when the first "Gagya Day" celebration was held. The phrase "Infinite Takeoff" was added afterward. It suggests imagining another century ahead, inspired by those who strove to protect Hangeul 100 years ago.

One of the first things that draws attention in the exhibition is the very idea that "Hangeul Day" itself has a history. We typically learn that King Sejong created Hunminjeongeum and commemorate October 9 as Hangeul Day. However, in between, there were people who created the name, determined the date, and fought for its recognition as a commemorative day.

At a press conference for the special exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day titled 'Ilog Iryuk Infinite Takeoff' held on the 1st at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Jongno-gu, Seoul, attendees were examining various manuscripts including the manuscript of the "Great Korean Dictionary."

This exhibition, presented by the National Hangeul Museum in cooperation with the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, the Korean Language Society, and the King Sejong Memorial Society, showcases 116 pieces of cultural materials related to Hangul Day (121 items in total).

Yonhap News

In 1926, the Joseon Language Research Society celebrated the 480th anniversary of the proclamation of Hunminjeongeum by commemorating "Gagya Day" for the very first time. This was during the Japanese occupation. At that moment, commemorating a single script meant protecting our own language. "Gagya Day" was renamed "Hangeul Day" in 1928. The date changed several times before finally being set as October 9, following the discovery of the Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon manuscript.

Part 1, "Gagya Day: Ilguiryuk," traces this period of transformation. Hangeul Day became a public holiday after Korea’s liberation, but after related regulations changed in 1990, it lost its holiday status starting from 1991. Later, after a movement to make it a national holiday, it was officially designated as such in 2005, and reinstated as a public holiday in 2012, restoring the "red day" status on the calendar from 2013. In other words, even a single marked day on the calendar didn't come about by accident.

A replica of the treasure manuscript "Malmoi," written by Ju Si-gyeong and his disciples in the 1910s for the compilation of a Korean dictionary. It was handwritten with a brush on 240-character manuscript paper, and currently, the original text from the headword 'ㄱ' to 'Gyalkjuk' remains. National Hangeul Museum

The true highlight of the exhibition comes alive in Part 2, "Familiar Gagya Clues." Here, you can see not only ceremonial anniversaries but also the ways in which people learned, used, and even played with Hangeul. In "Hunmongjahoe," a publication believed to be from the 17th century, the "Gagya Geogyeo"–style syllabic arrangement appears. In 19th-century Hangeul syllable charts, syllables were presented in a way that made them easy to learn, accompanied by illustrations or practical knowledge. This is why "Gagya" became a nickname for Hangeul.

The letters did not stay confined to textbooks. There were books that arranged 18 syllables from "Ga" to "Weo" in a circle and used them to predict one's fortune for jobs, moving house, or exams. Lyrics and games were created, and even witty remarks using Hangeul syllables appeared in newspapers. Rather than explaining the survival of Hangeul solely through the scientific merits of its script, the exhibition shows that it persisted because people used it daily and made it part of their lives and play.

Beside these, there are traces of those who defended the letters. Exhibited are a replica of the treasured "Malmoi" manuscript created by Ju Sigyeong and his disciples while compiling the first Korean dictionary, the inaugural issue of the Joseon Language Society's journal "Hangeul," and the treasured manuscript for the "Great Korean Dictionary," compiled from 1929 to 1942 by the same society.

Certificate of Attendance from Choson Language Institute, exhibited in Part 2 "Familiar Gagya Clues" of the special exhibition "Ilgu-iryuk Infinite Takeoff." This document was issued by the Choson Language Institute where Ju Si-gyeong served as an instructor, and certificates of attendance received by linguist Choe Hyeon-bae are also introduced. National Hangeul Museum

The story of the "Great Korean Dictionary" manuscript is almost like a movie. During the Japanese government's crackdown on the Joseon Language Society, the police confiscated the manuscript and its whereabouts became unknown, until it was discovered in a warehouse at Seoul Station shortly after liberation. If not for the recovery of that manuscript, the compilation of the Korean dictionary would not have been able to continue. This is the moment when the history of Hangeul, as seen in the faded paper inside a glass display, suddenly becomes a history of survival.

Also eye-catching are the certificates such as "Words Given for Practice" and "Sense of Accomplishment," awarded to the linguist Choe Hyeonbae while he studied at the Choson Language Institute. On the "Sense of Accomplishment" certificate, the word "Hangeul" appears clearly, with its consonants and vowels written out horizontally—evidence of the period before "Hangeul" had fully solidified as its standardized name, and of how a new name for the alphabet gradually took shape in people's hands.

The exhibition is compelling because it doesn't rush to the conclusion that "Hangeul is great." Rather than highlighting the creation of the alphabet itself, it sheds light on the process by which people learned, named, protected, and commemorated it. Attention shifts from a script created by a king to a culture preserved by ordinary people.

The interactive space "Shining Hangul Day" in the special exhibition "Ilguiryuk, Infinite Takeoff" celebrating the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day. Visitors can place old calendars on a light panel to directly find Hangul Day marked on calendars from the past. National Hangeul Museum

The atmosphere changes in the final Part 3, "Hangeul Day: Infinite Takeoff." Here, visitors can digitally explore photos, videos, and newspaper articles about Hangeul Day after 1926, and even create their own characters to participate in the Hangeul Day festival. There is also an interactive experience called "To the Future Connected by Hangeul," where, after selecting a word, person, and time you want to deliver a message to in the future, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) will provide a response that could be up to 100 years ahead.

Whereas the previous two sections presented Hangeul through the weight of old paper and ink, the final part takes a leap toward experiential engagement. Compared to the impact of historical records, this may seem somewhat light. Still, rather than ending the exhibition as a story about "preserved Hangeul" in the past tense, it transitions to the question of how people will use and transform Hangeul in the future, which closely aligns with the exhibition’s title, "Infinite Takeoff."

The inaugural issue of the journal "Hangeul," published by the Joseon Language Society in 1932. It contributed to the study of the Korean language and the promotion of Hangeul by including research on our language and answers to readers' questions. National Hangeul Museum

Those who created Gagya Day a century ago could never have imagined that, 100 years later, we would be typing Hangeul on smartphones and communicating with AI in Hangeul. Conversely, in 2026, we are prone to assume that Hangeul Day was always observed on October 9 and has always been a public holiday.

This is why, within this exhibition, what lingers the longest may not be the high-tech AI experience but rather a single, old syllable chart. Within that small chart that begins with "Gagya Geogyeo," you find teachers and learners, those who protected the script, and the overlapping passage of time as the alphabet was handed down to each generation. The 100 years of Hangeul Day is not, in the end, a history of letters but a history of those who refused to abandon them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.