Beautiful Native Korean Words Collected by AI...Galmaetbit, Sumbisori, Haemi

SK Telecom analyzes records with AI model “A.X K2”
Campaign marks 100th anniversary of Hangeul Day’s establishment

SK Telecom announced on October 7 that it is launching “2026 Malmoi,” a campaign marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangeul Day. In partnership with the National Institute of Korean Language and the National Hangeul Museum, the campaign uses artificial intelligence (AI) to bring back records left by ancestors who preserved the Korean language.

The campaign was conceived to bring written and spoken records of the Korean language back into everyday life. SK Telecom analyzed the complete scans of “Malmoi,” a manuscript for a Korean-language dictionary compiled by Ju Si-gyeong and his students, along with the National Institute of Korean Language’s Standard Korean Language Dictionary and native Korean words from Urimalsaem, the institute’s crowdsourced Korean-language knowledge dictionary, using its proprietary AI foundation model, “A.X K2.” Based on the analysis, the company created the “Malmoi” typeface and, following a review by the National Institute of Korean Language, selected “100 Beautiful Native Korean Words Collected by AI,” which it will distribute on October 8.

The starting point for the “Malmoi” typeface was the explanation of “ㄱ (galjuk)” in the manuscript. A.X K2 analyzed the letters in the manuscript as images and organized the shapes of the consonants and vowels, using them as the basis for completing the typeface. Anyone can download it from the Hangul Society website.

AI also brought back native Korean words that are included in dictionaries but have fallen out of everyday use. From the Standard Korean Language Dictionary and Urimalsaem, A.X K2 selected 100 words based on whether their definitions evoke poetic or positive imagery, whether they sound natural in contemporary use, and whether they could be used in titles, names, or subtitles.

SK Telecom will compile the 100 selections into a booklet and donate it to the National Hangeul Museum. The museum has declared this year the “Year of Hangeul Donations.”

The 100 selections include “Yunseul,” the small waves that shimmer in sunlight or moonlight; “sunnun,” clean snow in its original state after falling; “Putnat,” a word meaning being acquainted well enough to recognize one another; and “Bolumul,” meaning “a well in the cheek” and referring to a dimple.

While Malmoi is a record preserved in writing, there is also a record preserved in sound: a voice recording of Korean-language scholar Lee Geuk-ro, held at the National Library of France. On October 7, SK Telecom will release a campaign video on its YouTube channel connecting these two records, one preserved in writing and the other in sound.

Customers can also take part in the campaign by sharing a Korean word of the day on SK Telecom’s official social media channels. SK Telecom will feature Reels and card-news posts showcasing regional dialects and slang coined by different generations. Customers who enter the event will be entered into a drawing to win a special edition of “2026 Malmoi” and “2026 Malmoi” keycaps.

“We created this campaign so that the Korean words collected by our ancestors more than 100 years ago could be carried forward with AI and shared through a typeface and language everyone can use,” said Lee Seungyeol, head of SK Telecom’s Strategy Communications Office. “We will continue working to ensure AI can help preserve the value of the Korean language and culture.”

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