By Charlie Apuya

University of Maryland students immersed themselves in various cultural activities related to Korean culture to celebrate the 580th anniversary of the Hangul writing system on Friday.

Korean lecturers Seong Minne Koh and Saerom Kwak hosted the event in St. Mary’s Hall’s Multipurpose Room. It featured complementary snacks and an introductory lecture from Robert Ramsey, a retired UMD Korean professor, about the creation of Hangul.

Hangul, the official alphabetic writing system of the Korean language, was created in the 1440s by King Sejong the Great to promote literacy for disadvantaged Koreans. King Sejong aimed to make reading and writing accessible to all Koreans regardless of class, status or gender.

“This writing system is the pinnacle of phonological science, but it’s also something more,” Ramsey said. “It’s [King Sejong’s] humanity and compassion.”

The event also included workshops where students practiced writing calligraphy on paper fans, played Korean children’s games like gonggi and learned small sections of K-pop choreography.

The calligraphy workshop allowed students to interact with Hangul in a hands-on way that the various constraints of a structured class don’t allow, according to Koh.

“It’s hard to do because of the material you need,” Koh said. “If you have 15 students, you need 15 brushes, 15 ink and everything, right? So, because of that, I can’t really do it in class. On this occasion, I can give them some chance to practice.”

UMD Asian pop dance groups GGWB and Ganji sent one representative from their group to teach attendees a short portion of dance steps from both “Catch Catch” by YENA and “Bloody Paradise” by ENHYPEN.

Danny Mallya, a senior pursuing a dual degree in information science and immersive media design, was most interested in learning K-pop choreography at the event, which is what interested them in Korean culture in the first place.

“Korean culture has been very easy to immerse myself into because of artists like BTS,” Mallya said. “I was very interested in their lyricism and … the poetic nature of the Korean language.” 

Ian Jackson, a senior bioengineer major, attended the event as a scholarly requirement for his Korean language class, which gave more context to what the classes taught him about the writing system.

“I didn’t really know the history of Hangul,” Jackson said. “My mom, who’s Korean … I don’t really think she knew [the history] either, so it’s fun to learn all this.”

While most of the attendees were students involved with UMD’s Korean program, Koh’s main hope was to host an enjoyable event.

“I hope [the attendees] know how unique Hangul is and how special Korean language is,” Koh said. “That’s all.”

Featured Image: A student holds a handmade fan and Korean calligraphy in St. Mary’s Hall at the University of Maryland on Oct. 9, 2026. Photo by Josh Hananel.