October 9th became a national holiday in Korea to celebrate the proclamation of the Korean Alphabet, Hangul, by King Sejong the Great (1447). At the time, the great majority of people were illiterate, Hangul, an alphabet consisting of 14 consonants and 10 vowels, was the first formal writing system to make everyone to read and write their native language. It's amazing how language has a date of birth and how such a simple composition can let us communicate. But most of all I think the reason why Hangul is special has two reasons: its scientific phonetic structure and philosophical implication. As you may know, the shapes of the letters are based on the configuration of the articulators in making the corresponding sounds. Try to make a sound with any consonant and you can feel how your tongue writes the corresponding letter in your mouth. Hangul vowels are constructed with only 3 elements (ㆍ, ㅡ, ㅣ) and they respectively represent heaven, earth, and human. We should combine these three elements in speaking and/or writing in order to deliver our thoughts to someone. The combination of elements indicates the idea of harmony in oriental philosophy: harmonious relationship between people and nature. Have you even seen another language that carries a nation's philosophy? Language is a man-made tool to deliver sound and meaning. But isn't it astonishing to know that our nation's philosophy is inscribed in this tool?