Hangeul exports to Indonesia subject to dumping ?

From the start*, the promotion of Korea's alphabet in the Indonesian city of Bau-Bau (on a Southeastern Sulawesi island) has always looked much stronger on the "supply" side than on the "demand" side. So I'm not very surprised to learn that the people supposed to adopt hangeul are becoming more... demanding as they get closer to accepting the gift.

The Korea Times reveals that Bau-Bau mayor (Amirul Tamim) is now asking for infrastructures that never were part of the deal**. Not to the Hunminjeongeum Society, the Korean association that initiated the operation, but directly to Seoul Metropolitan Government, apparently caught into the trap after the visit of an Indonesian delegation in late 2009.

Koreans are now weighting the pros of cons of giving in to blackmail, because that's basically what it comes down to : "You showed me the letters ? Now show me the money !"

But there shouldn't be any ultimatum. And the fundamental question should be asked to Mayor Tamim : do you really want this alphabet ? The Hunminjeongeum Society desperately wants to plant a hangeul flag overseas, but if the adoption of Hangeul doesn't happen naturally, it will never happen.

I'm pretty sure King Sejong would never have wanted this beautiful alphabet forced down the throat of an Indonesian tribe. Or subject to bribery or dumping, like some vulgar kind of consumer goods.

At last, there is some evolution on the city website since 2009 (beyond the URL, now baubaukota.go.id) :


Thanks to small icons in the upper right corner, visitors now have a choice of language between Indonesian and Korean or, to be more accurate, between "Indonesia" in bahasa Indonesia and "Korean" in English. Unfortunately, baubaukota.go.id/kr leads to this blank page with the message "Website will be back soon" :


I haven't checked the site since 2009, so I can't tell if the said website has ever existed. But since the message is written in English, I wouldn't bet a buck on it.

To be continued (?).

Seoul Village 2011
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* see "Hangeul lands in Bau-Bau, Indonesia... to save the Cia !" and "Hangeul, take a Bau-Bau"
** see "Hangeul education on Cia Cia stalled"

Hangeul, take a Bau-Bau

Remember the people of Bau-Bau, Indonesia, who are experiencing the Hangeul alphabet for their cia-cia language * ? As expected, a delegation recently arrived in Seoul to meet with subzero temperatures, a warm welcome, and Santa King Sejong.

The warm welcome included the traditional picture behind a large banner - an embarrassing moment no one can bypass during "events" in Korea**. The banner splashed two versions of a message celebrating their arrival in Seoul, the city of Hangeul : one in Hangeul AND in Korean, the other in Bahasa Indonesia.

You would have expected at least one version in Hangeul AND in Cia-Cia but no. So this kind message can be read by people who understand Korean and Indonesian, but - theoretically - can't be read by the people of Bau-Bau. Organizers obviously missed the point, unless their point was this one : we want to spread Hangeul everywhere for people to see, and care less about people who use it. That's definitely not what the Hunminjeongeum Society had it mind, but this large banner definitely looked like a big Freudian slip.

Seoul Village 2009

* see "Hangeul lands in Bau-Bau, Indonesia... to save the Cia !"

** I've been recently caught behind one as well, and was mercifully spared the usual shot with the lifted fist and the "paï-ting !" scream - this "fighting !" became popular after advertising campaigns during the 2002 World Cup.

Donguibogam listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register

In 1596, King Seonjo ordered his physician Heo Jun to oversee the compilation of every piece of information related to medicinal herbs with a focus on Korea because the country relied only on Chinese references which mentioned plants often unavailable in the peninsula. The 25 volumes of Donguibogam (동의보감 or Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine) were published in 1613, five years after Seonjo's death.

Today July 31st, 2009, almost four centuries later, and one year after its submission, the book kept in The National Library of Korea and The Academy of Korean Studies has been awarded inscription to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.


Beyond its sometimes weird bits of traditional medicine wisdom, Dongui Bogam has been praised for its modern vision (see "Donguibogam: Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine" on UNESCO portal) : "In terms of health care system, it developed the ideals of preventive medicine and public health care by the state, which was virtually an unprecedented idea up to the 19th century". Considering today's heated debate about health care in the US, one could even push that up to the 21th century...


Initiated in 1992, the UNESCO Memory of the World Program aims for preservation, documentation, and awareness of key documents. Donguibogam is Korea's 7th entry to a list of about 190 representing more than 80 countries. That's a lot, particularly when you compared with France (5), the UK (2), or the US (1).


But these figures tell more about each country's efficiency in submissions than about the size of their respective treasures. UK's Magna Carta joined the crowd only this year (submitted last year). It also seems to be a matter of what priorities are on each submitter's minds : USA is not represented by its Constitution but by a movie. Citizen Kane ? No : The Wizard of Oz. Go figure...


Korea's special role also appears in the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize, named after what is undoubtedly one of the World's most important documents in history : Jikji, the first metal type printed book (1377, Guthenberg's 42-line Bible came much later, in 1455). Every other year since 2005 (year of Jikji's induction to the UNESCO list), the UNESCO Jikji Prize is awarded, along with USD 30,000, to "individuals or institutions that have made significant contributions to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage". First laureate : the National Library of the Czech Republic.


Note that the UNESCO/Jikji prize was created one year before the 120th anniversary of French-Korean diplomatic relationships, putting a gentle pressure on France for giving the only extant part of the book back to Korea, or at least making it more accessible to the public. The Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol volume II, or second volume of "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings", is kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. La BNF also holds part of Uigwe, but the bulk of the Royal Protocols of the Joseon Dynasty remains in Korea's Royal Libraries (Kyujanggak, Jangseogak). If you've ever been to Korea, you've probably already come across visual elements of Uigwe : many museographies and all costumed revivals of royal ceremonies tap into that ultimate blueprint.

So now you know at least 4 of the 7 Korean documents listed by the UNESCO :
- Donguibogam (listed in 2009)

- Jikji (listed in 2001 - the same year as Guthemberg's bible)
- Uigwe (listed in 2007), and 
- Tripitaka Koreana (listed in 2007) : we mentioned that great marvel last year in our focus on "Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panja".


Another essential document is Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음 - listed in 1997, now in Gansong Art Museum), the code that set the Korean alphabet in 1446. Nowadays, bits of that fundamental text are used to decorate the fence protecting, on Gwanghwamun Square, the site where King Sejong's statue and information center will be erected. Does the name ring a bell ? We recently mentioned the Hunminjeongeum Society, a private initiative trying to promote hangul overseas (see "Hangeul lands in Bau-Bau, Indonesia... to save the Cia !").


If you intend to read the other two Korean entries in the register, take a big breath and make plans for a borgesian-size library :


- Joseonwangjosillok (조선왕조실록 or Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), listed in 1997 and preserved at Jeongjoksan Archive / Jeongjoksan Sagobon in Seoul, cover 472 years (1392-1863) in 1,893 books.


- Seungjeongwon Ilgi (승정원일기, or Diaries of the Royal Secretariat), listed in 2001 and kept at Kyujanggak and Seoul National University, deliver more crispy state secrets and many volumes have been lost for good, but that's still a collection of 3,243 diaries stretching over 288 years (1623-1910). Those diaries shouldn't threaten Bridget Jones' days on top of the bestseller list.


Korea does have a knack for written arts, and a long tradition of great respect for scholars over warriors. Still today, I'm sure there's something in the air (beyond the smog, that is). A good place to live if you love books.



SM 20090731 updated 0826

Hangeul lands in Bau-Bau, Indonesia... to save the Cia !

According to The HunminJeongeum Society (HunminJeongeum Research Institute), representatives from Bau-Bau decided to use the Korean alphabet in order to preserve their own language, a dialect that lacked a writing system.

Created in 1443, Hangeul is often praised by linguists as the most efficient alphabet ever invented and indeed, it takes only a few minutes to understand how it works. Still, Hangeul needed some help to reach Bau-Bau, the most populated town (120,000 inhabitants) of Buton island, at the Southwesternmost point of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The HunminJeongeum institute has been trying to export Hangeul for years. The easiest and most obvious entry points are non written languages with a limited reach and on the verge of extinction : a writing system means an easier conservation, transmission, and of course a global reach via the internet.

Last year, the vice president of the association (headed by Seoul National University Professor Kim Ju-won), Chun Tai-hyun, Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, announced in a Korean Times interview* that representatives from Bau-Bau would visit Korea to learn Hangeul and find out how to implement it. "In Indonesia, ethnic minority communities are losing their own spoken languages. We realized that the Korean alphabet could actually help preserve these endangered local languages."

The said trip bore interesting fruits : a comprehensive textbook in Hangeul created by the Institute and titled "bahasa jjia-jjia 1", and a Korean center soon to be opened (see Yonhap article*).

I found this information both exciting and surprising : If it were say in Thailand, where the national language uses a specific writing system, I would understand the trial... but Bahasa Indonesia itself, the Indonesian language, has adopted the Latin alphabet about one century ago. Indonesian is spoken everywhere, even if many dialects survive, and Latin alphabet already offers a potentially global reach. Choosing an alphabet is a founding moment, and picking a different alphabet almost has to have a political meaning...

I did some quick research :

- on the island's official website (baubau.go.id), there's nothing about the issue yet : all pages seem written in perfect Bahasa Indonesia... as much as I can tell (I haven't practiced the very little I know for 20 years !).

- on the always fascinating UNESCO Atlas of endangered languages, I found only Busoa ("vulnerable") and Taloki ("definitely endangered") in the area. If Indonesia boasts about 130 endangered languages, this very one is not on the list.

- on the "Ethnologue report for Sulawesi, Indonesia", I found the language mentioned on the manual : in 2005, 79,000 people spoke Cia-cia language (or simply cia, which means "no") across this part of Sulawesi, but with many variant dialects. The language is said to be "vigorous" and spoken at "all ages", along with Indonesian and the dominant Austranesian language of Buton island, wlo (or wolio).

- I couldn't dig any clue in the political / social context that may cast a particular light on such a bold move from local representatives.

So my guess is that in this more "push" than "pull" operation, the survival of cia-cia language was not as essential as the opportunity to see how Hangeul performs in a completely new context. Professor Kim Ju-won is even more specific : "In the long run, the spread of Hangeul will also help enhance Korea's economy as it will activate exchanges with societies that use the language."*

I understand that this kind of arguments help raise funds for research, but I sincerely hope that linguistics remain the main topic, and that someone is planning to closely monitor the impacts. For example, I'm anxious to see if there is any impact on pronunciation.

If this thrilling (in all senses of the expression) experiment turns out to be a success, other local languages may be tempted to adopt Hangeul... if they simply don't catch the virus by contagion.

To be followed up...


* "Linguistics Scholar Seeks to Globalize Korean Alphabet" (Korea Times)
** featuring "writing, speaking and reading sections", "the tribe's history, language and culture" (definitely a must), and as a bonus "a Korean fairy tale" - see "Indonesian tribe picks Korean alphabet as official writing system" (Yonhap 20090806)