洪 民憙 (Hong Minhee)'s avatar
洪 民憙 (Hong Minhee)

@hongminhee@hollo.social

I'm giving the keynote at the FOSS for All Conference 2025, but the organizers told me I have to provide my slides in English too, which means I'm now stuck having to explain what the heck Korean mixed script (國漢文混用體) is in English. 😇

Korean mixed script (國漢文混用體)

Form of writing Korean that mixes the Korean alphabet and Chinese characters

Historical context

The Korean language traditionally written using a mix of:

• Hanja (漢字)—Chinese characters for meaning
• Hangul (한글)—Korean alphabet for grammar and native words

Similar to how Japanese use kanji + hiragana/katakana.

The problem

• 1990s: Still common in newspapers and books
• Today: Young Koreans can't read hanja! 

This created a personal dilemma: I prefer writing in mixed script for precision and aesthetics, but my audience cannot read it.
ALT text detailsKorean mixed script (國漢文混用體) Form of writing Korean that mixes the Korean alphabet and Chinese characters Historical context The Korean language traditionally written using a mix of: • Hanja (漢字)—Chinese characters for meaning • Hangul (한글)—Korean alphabet for grammar and native words Similar to how Japanese use kanji + hiragana/katakana. The problem • 1990s: Still common in newspapers and books • Today: Young Koreans can't read hanja! This created a personal dilemma: I prefer writing in mixed script for precision and aesthetics, but my audience cannot read it.