Sejong the Great Statue
Sejong the Great Statue in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.
Who is he?
Sejong was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. His reign of power was from September 18th, 1418 until he died of diabetes on May 18th, 1450.
He was a very smart man. He had a love for Science, technology and literature. He is loved in Korea and you can find him on the 10,000WON BILL front and on the back a Korean Celestial Globe.
What Sejong is most well-known for is Hangul, the Korean writing system. Yes, we see it everyday in Korea and before that, Korean people used Hanja (Chinese charaters). Hanja was very complex and took years of study to learn something which most average citizens didn’t have available to them. Sejong wanted to establish a cultural identity through script for the people of Korea. In 1446, he first publish the 28 letter alphabet, HANGUL. It was very easy to learn and people could pick it up after only a few hours of study.
You should visit his statue and the palace for a great one day trip.
How to get to King Sejong Statue:
The stature of King Sejong is located in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, The American embassy and Gwanghwamun in Seoul. You can take line 3 to Gyeongbokgung station exit 5,
Line 5 to Gwanghwamun station exit 2,
Line 1 to Jonggak station exit 1.
View larger map
Also, look out for the hit TV show The Great King Sejong showing how he improved his dynasty and making Korea a better place. The Drama was aired in 2008 and there are 80 episodes.
