In Korea, two people can be chosen. King Sejong and Ju Sigyeong.

Sejong was a person who loved reading very much, and his vast knowledge was a huge help to him in establishing policies. One of these achievements is that he directly created the Korean alphabet to improve the literacy of commoners who didn't know how to read and write.(He felt regret that the commoners were illiterate.) His vast knowledge reached even phonology, and this made it possible for him to create the characters by himself. It is one of the few things among his achievements that still influences modern times.

He was a scholar before he was a king. King Sejong was a king, but in the modern era, he is a person loved as a scholar rather than a leader. (He is the historical figure most respected by Koreans, along with Admiral Yi Sunshin.) However, since he is a figure from the 15th century, he can be said to be a person from a long time ago. Just as all languages change naturally, his constructed script also changed naturally over time. For example, three of the characters he created naturally fell out of use.

Therefore, I would like to introduce one modern figure.

Ju Sigyeong was a nationalist linguist who became active in 1894, before Korea became a colony of Japan. At that time, Korea was facing threats from imperialist powers, and there was no Korean who did not feel a sense of crisis about this. The anxious thought that their country could disappear was spreading across the nation. He quickly realized that language becomes a national identity before modern nationalism entered Korea. In particular, he was a person who criticized the old-fashioned atmosphere of worshiping writing in Classical Chinese, whose vocabulary and grammar did not fit the Korean language at all. He encouraged the use of the Korean alphabet and tried to popularize it.

He was a person who had a profound influence on modern Korean. At that time, Korean spelling was not systematically organized. The orthography of the Korean language was very inconsistent. He organized Korean spelling, and the current Korean spelling is based on his achievements.

He also trained numerous disciples. His disciples became Korean language scholars who were active throughout the colonial period and after liberation. They followed the will of Ju Sigyeong and made significant contributions such as compiling dictionaries and standardizing grammar. Currently, although there are differences between the linguistic norms of South and North Korea, they are not significant enough to be considered a serious problem, and this can be regarded as their legacy.

Who is the most influential linguist in your country?