American helped bring spacing to Hangeul

When it comes to Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, two figures are often mentioned: King Sejong (1397-1450), who initiated its creation, and linguist Ju Si-gyeong (1876-1914), who helped develop and systematize Korea's modern grammar and writing system. Last year, Yoo Hong-june, director of the National Museum of Korea and a historian, highlighted another important contributor to the development of Hangeul: Homer Hulbert (1863-1949), an American educator, Christian missionary and scholar. “Hulbert recommended Ju Si-gyeong use spacing in Hangeul writing, and Ju accepted the recommendation. That decision to accept the recommendation, I believe, made the biggest contribution to Hangeul’s development,” Yoo said during a lecture on Hangeul. Kim Dong-jin, chairman of the Hulbert Memorial Society (HMS), also said historical records provide supporting evidence that Hulbert was behind bringing spacing to Hangeul. Newspaper with Hangeul Hulbert came to Korea in 1886 as a teacher at Yugyeong Gongwon, also known as the Royal English School, one of the country’s first modern schools. Hulbert became