American helped bring spacing to Hangeul

Published Oct 9, 2026 7:00 am KST

Homer Hulbert / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

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

Dongnip Sinmun / Courtesy of National Library of Korea

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 involved in publishing and education. He developed a close relationship with Ju, one of his students who later dedicated his life to studying Hangeul.

The two were involved in the publication of the Dongnip Sinmun, the first Korean languge newspaper, which was launched on April 7, 1896.

Spacing appeared between words in the newspaper, which the newspaper explained in its inaugural English editorial.

“Difficulty is experienced by those not thoroughly acquainted with the 'on-mun' (Hangeul) from the fact that ordinarily there are no spaces between words. We therefore adopt the novel plan of introducing spaces, thus doing away with the main objection to its use,” according to the editorial.

A copy of "Saminpilji" / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

Publishing Hangeul textbook

Beside recommending spacing, Hulbert wrote a major educational book in Hangeul in an effort to make it more accessible to people.

"Saminpilji," whose title can be translated as “Knowledge Necessary for All,” was a geography textbook written entirely in Hangeul.

Published around 1891, the book contained 161 pages of text and eight pages of maps. Despite being a geography book, it covered a broad range of subjects including astronomy, political systems, education, religion, industry and finance.

For Hangeul, against Chinese characters

Hulbert was a strong advocate for Hangeul at a time when Chinese characters remained dominant in official and scholarly writing.

In "The History of Korea," published in 1905, he praised the Korean alphabet, insisting that it “scarcely has its equal in the world for simplicity and phonetic power.”

He criticized the social prejudice surrounding the use of Hangeul. In an article titled “The Korean Alphabet” published in the monthly English magazine The Korean Repository in 1892, he argued that Korea would benefit if its people abandon the widespread reliance on Chinese characters in favor of the Korean writing system.

"At a time when Korea was overlooked by Western powers and burdened by internal turmoil, he foresaw the immense potential of the Korean people," Kim said. "He saw that their unyielding passion for education, combined with the unparalleled scientific design of Hangeul, would one day make Korea a shining light on the world stage."

The cover page for Homer Hulbert's article, titled "A Comparative Grammar of The Korean Language and The Dravidian Dialects of Southern India," published in 1906 / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

Academic approach to Korean language

Hulbert's interest in the Korean language went beyond learning to communicate. While living in Korea, he conducted research into the language and writing system.

Hulbert published multiple columns on Hangeul and the Korean language, including "The Korean Alphabet" (1892 and 1896), "Korean Etymology” (1901), and “The Korean Language”(1902) in local magazines.

In 1903, he published a study of "Hunminjeongeum," the original text introducing the Korean alphabet. He also published "A Comparative Grammar of The Korean Language and The Dravidian Dialects of Southern India."

His works made him one of the earliest Western scholars to conduct academic research on the Korean language.

Lifelong connection with Korea

Hulbert was born in New Haven, Vermont, in 1863. His father, Calvin Hulbert, was a pastor and served as president of Middlebury College from 1875 to 1879. Hulbert studied at Dartmouth College and later at Union Theological Seminary before leaving for Korea.

Beside his advocacy for Hangeul, Hulbert is widely remembered for his efforts to defend Korea's sovereignty against Japanese influence.

He openly criticized Japan's growing control over the country and became a confidant of King Gojong. In 1905, Hulbert traveled to Washington, D.C., as Gojong's representative in an effort to seek U.S. support for Korea's sovereignty.

In 1907, he was involved in Gojong's secret diplomatic efforts at The Hague Peace Conference. Along with the Korean envoys sent to The Hague, he sought to draw international attention to Japan's increasing control over Korea. Afterward, Japan prevented him from returning to Korea.

Homer Hulbert's bust and two monuments unveiled in New Haven, Vt., Oct. 3(local time) / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

He continued to advocate for Korean independence in the United States, writing and giving lectures about Korea. After Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945, the Korean government invited Hulbert returned to Korea in 1949.

Hulbert passed away in August 1949, just days after returning to Korea and was laid to rest in the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul. He was 86.

He was later posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation for his contributions to Korea's independence movement. To mark his enduring legacy, HMS unveiled monuments and a bust honoring him in his hometown in Vermont, on Oct. 3 (local time).

发布于2026年10月9日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

霍默·赫尔伯特 / 图片由赫尔伯特纪念协会提供

提到韩文（韩语字母），人们经常会提到两位人物：一是世宗大王（1397-1450），他开创了韩文的创造；二是语言学家朱时京（1876-1914），他帮助发展和系统化了韩国的现代语法和书写系统。

去年，韩国国立中央博物馆馆长兼历史学家柳洪俊重点介绍了韩文发展中的另一位重要贡献者：美国教育家、基督教传教士和学者霍默·赫尔伯特（1863-1949）。

“赫尔伯特建议朱时京在韩文书写中使用空格，朱时京接受了这一建议。我认为，他接受这一建议的决定对韩文的发展做出了最大的贡献，”柳在一次关于韩文的讲座中说道。

赫尔伯特纪念协会（HMS）主席金东镇也表示，历史记录提供了佐证，证明赫尔伯特是韩文引入空格的幕后推手。

韩文报纸

东日新闻 / 由韩国国立中央图书馆提供

1886 年，赫尔伯特来到韩国，在皇家英语学校（又称裕庆公院）任教，这是韩国最早的现代学校之一。

赫尔伯特投身出版和教育事业。他与自己的学生朱（Ju）建立了密切的关系，朱后来毕生致力于韩文的研究。

两人参与创办了韩国第一份报纸《东尼新闻》，该报于 1896 年 4 月 7 日创刊。

报纸上出现了单词之间的空格，该报在其创刊号英文社论中对此进行了解释。

社论指出：“对于不熟悉韩文的人来说，由于韩文单词之间通常没有空格，因此会感到困难。所以我们采用了引入空格的新方案，从而消除了使用韩文的主要障碍。”

《萨明皮尔吉》副本 / 由赫尔伯特纪念协会提供

出版韩文教材

除了建议使用空格外，赫尔伯特还用韩文写了一本重要的教育书籍，以期让人们更容易理解韩文。

《Saminpilji》（全民必备知识）是一本完全用韩文写成的地理教科书。

该书出版于1891年左右，包含161页正文和8页地图。尽管是一本地理书籍，但它涵盖了广泛的主题，包括天文学、政治制度、教育、宗教、工业和金融。

韩文，对抗汉字

在汉字仍然主导官方和学术写作的时代，赫尔伯特大力倡导使用韩文。

在 1905 年出版的《韩国史》中，他赞扬了韩国字母，并坚称其“在简洁性和语音力方面，世界上几乎没有能与之匹敌的字母”。

他批评了围绕韩文使用的社会偏见。在1892年发表于英文月刊《韩国文库》（The Korean Repository）上的一篇题为《韩国字母表》的文章中，他认为，如果韩国人民放弃广泛依赖汉字而改用韩国文字系统，韩国将会受益。

金说：“在韩国被西方列强忽视、饱受内部动荡之苦的时期，他预见到了韩国人民的巨大潜力。他看到，他们对教育的不懈热情，加上韩文无与伦比的科学设计，终有一天会让韩国成为世界舞台上的一颗璀璨明珠。”

霍默·赫尔伯特（Homer Hulbert）的文章《朝鲜语与南印度德拉维语方言的比较语法》（A Comparative Grammar of The Korean Language and The Dravidian Dialects of Southern India）的封面页，发表于1906年 / 由赫尔伯特纪念协会提供

韩语的学术研究方法

赫尔伯特对韩语的兴趣不仅限于学习交流。在韩国生活期间，他还对韩语及其文字系统进行了研究。

赫尔伯特在地方杂志上发表了多篇关于韩文和韩语的专栏文章，包括《韩文字母》（1892 年和 1896 年）、《韩语词源》（1901 年）和《韩语》（1902 年）。

1903年，他发表了对《训民正音》的研究，该书是介绍韩语字母的原始文本。他还出版了《韩语与南印度德拉维语方言比较语法》。

他的著作使他成为最早对韩语进行学术研究的西方学者之一。

与韩国的终生情缘

赫尔伯特于 1863 年出生于佛蒙特州纽黑文。他的父亲卡尔文·赫尔伯特是一位牧师，曾于 1875 年至 1879 年担任米德尔伯里学院院长。赫尔伯特曾在达特茅斯学院学习，后来又在联合神学院学习，之后前往韩国。

除了倡导韩文之外，赫尔伯特还因其捍卫韩国主权、抵制日本影响的努力而广为人知。

他公开批评日本对韩国日益增长的控制，并成为高宗的亲信。1905年，赫尔伯特作为高宗的代表前往华盛顿特区，寻求美国对韩国主权的支持。

1907年，他参与了高宗在海牙和会上的秘密外交活动。他与派往海牙的朝鲜使节一起，试图引起国际社会对日本日益加强对朝鲜控制的关注。会后，日本阻止他返回朝鲜。

10月3日（当地时间），霍默·赫尔伯特的半身像和两座纪念碑在佛蒙特州纽黑文揭幕。/图片由赫尔伯特纪念协会提供

他继续在美国倡导韩国独立，撰写文章并发表关于韩国的演讲。1945年韩国摆脱日本统治后，韩国政府邀请赫尔伯特于1949年返回韩国。

赫尔伯特于1949年8月去世，就在他返回韩国几天后，被安葬在首尔的杨花津外国传教士公墓。他享年86岁。

他后来因对韩国独立运动的贡献而被追授国家奠基勋章。为了纪念他留下的不朽功绩，HMS于10月3日（当地时间）在他的家乡佛蒙特州揭幕了纪念碑和半身像。