Hangeul Day Special: The King Who Gave Korea a New Voice
This week on Arirang Travel Diaries, we celebrate Hangeul Day by going back to the surprising story behind Korea's alphabet. In 15th-century Joseon, King Sejong decided that ordinary people needed a writing system that actually matched the Korean language; then faced opposition from scholars who thought creating easy new letters was dangerous. We'll look at how the original 28 letters worked, the political fight behind them, the drama Deep Rooted Tree, and why 2026 is a particularly special Hangeul Day: 580 years since the promulgation of Hunminjeongeum and 100 years since Koreans first began officially commemorating the day.
2 Oct 2026
The City Built from Grief, Love, and Reform
This week on Arirang Travel Diaries, we finish our four-part King Jeongjo series in the place where his personal history became a physical landscape: Suwon Hwaseong. It began with the memory of his father Crown Prince Sado, grew into a new city built with scholars, soldiers, craftsmen and new technology, and became the stage for Jeongjo’s extraordinary 1795 journey with his mother Lady Hyegyeong. And the timing is perfect — because this weekend, that journey comes back to life at the 2026 Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival.
25 Sept 2026
The King Who Built a System, 규장각, 초계문신, 장용영, 신해통공 Part.2
This week on Arirang Travel Diaries, we leave King Jeongjo’s private life and look at how he actually governed. Jeongjo had ambitious ideas, but being king did not automatically give him loyal officials, trusted soldiers, or the power to change old economic privileges, so he built institutions to do it. From 규장각 and 초계문신 to 장용영 and 신해통공, today we look at the machinery behind the reform king.
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