Hangul is the Korean alphabet created under King Sejong.
The script was developed during the Joseon period under Sejong the Great, the fourth king of Joseon. Its creation was announced in the 1443 document Hunminjeongeum Haerye, and the alphabet was formally introduced to the public in 1446.
Hangul was designed so that ordinary people could learn to read more easily than they could master the Chinese characters then used in Korean writing. Its basic letters represent consonants and vowels, and the letters are grouped into square syllable blocks rather than written in a simple linear sequence.
The alphabet was historically called Hunminjeongeum, meaning “the correct sounds for the instruction of the people.” “Hangul” became the standard modern name. South Korea and North Korea use slightly different spelling conventions, but both write Korean with this alphabet.