Hangeul’s 2026 centennial celebrations are not only about visible letters. One of the year’s most revealing exhibitions begins with six raised dots.
Park Du-seong, born in Ganghwa in 1888, began teaching at the Jesaengwon school for blind students in 1913. According to the National Hangeul Museum, he worked with students to create a six-dot Korean Braille system that would be easy to learn, economical in its use of dots and difficult to confuse. On November 4, 1926, Hunmaengjeongeum was introduced with 63 Braille signs.
That date matters because the system was more than a technical transcription method. The museum’s curatorial framing treats Braille as a question of the right to read: access to education, everyday information and participation in society. A century later, the anniversary exhibition in Incheon brings together the registered-heritage 1926 Hunmaengjeongeum, materials from the history of blind education, Korean and international Braille objects, and tactile models of key exhibits.
The exhibition also makes accessibility part of its own design. Major objects are represented through tactile models, and the organizers describe accessible interpretation and supplementary content intended to help visitors experience the exhibition through more than sight alone.
For international visitors, this is a useful counterpoint to familiar stories about King Sejong, type design and the visual elegance of Hangeul. Korean writing history also includes the work of adapting literacy to different bodies and senses. The centennial asks a broader question: a writing system may be brilliantly designed, but who can actually use it to enter education, culture and public life?