Gimhae City Nears Completion of Hangul Museum Project... Memorial Hall for Teachers Heo Woong and Lee Yoonjae

Exterior view of the Gimhae Hangeul Museum, scheduled for completion in March next year (Photo by Gimhae City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Woo-kwon] The Gimhae Hangeul Museum project, commemorating Hanmoe Lee Yun-jae (1888?1943) and Nunmoe Heo Ung (1918?2004), towering figures in modern and contemporary Korean linguistics from Gimhae, Gyeongnam, is nearing completion.

On the 31st, Gimhae City announced that the Gimhae Hangeul Museum near Oedong Butterfly Park will open in March next year.

The Hangeul Museum will be a building with one basement floor and two above-ground floors, covering a total floor area of 590㎡, consisting of a planned exhibition hall, Exhibition Rooms 1 and 2, a seminar room, and a storage room. Following the building's completion in July, installation of exhibition facilities will be finished by the end of the year.

Lee Yun-jae was a linguist and an independence activist who resisted Japanese colonial rule through Hangeul.

He graduated from Gimhae Public Elementary School and Daegu Gyesong School, led the March 1st Movement and independence activities in Pyeonganbuk-do for 19 years, endured three years imprisonment in Pyongyang prison, graduated from the Department of History at Peking University in China after release, taught at Osan School in 1924, launched and edited the Korean studies magazine ‘Hanbit’ in 1928, and from 1932 served as the publisher and editor of the journal ‘Hangeul’.

The artifacts to be exhibited in the museum include personal belongings and donated items such as clothing, appreciation plaques, and handwritten manuscripts that were kept by Heo Hwang, eldest son of Heo Ung, director of the Ulsan Talent Education Promotion Institute.

The city has received valuable materials including dictionaries such as ‘Joseonmal Geunsajeon’ and ‘Geunsajeon’, research books published by the Japanese Governor-General of Korea during the colonial period for Korean studies, and Korean language textbooks from after 1970, currently holding about 4,000 artifacts.

Gwon Jae-il, president of the Hangeul Society and a disciple of Heo Ung, said, “Before liberation, Lee Yun-jae led the Hangeul Society, which cultivated and protected our language, and after liberation, Heo Ung took the lead. I sincerely congratulate the establishment of the Gimhae Hangeul Museum honoring these two figures.”

He added, “Lee Yun-jae laid the foundation for Korean dictionaries but passed away before seeing the liberation of his homeland, which he longed for. Heo Ung made efforts based on scientific research on the Korean language to help the people use the language easily and accurately. The Gimhae Hangeul Museum honoring these two gentlemen will be a Hangeul cultural complex space, a joy and great pride not only for Gimhae but for the entire country.”

A city official explained, “Once the Hangeul Museum opens, the Museum City Project, which has been promoted since 2016 as a pledge of the current mayor, is expected to gain more momentum. So far, we have expanded 10 public museums including the Capital Museum, Jinyeong Station Railway Museum, and Wood Culture Museum, and we are currently working on the India Museum and the Municipal Museum.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.