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| Korea's oldest typewriter which belonged to Song Ki-ju / Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism |
With the opening of National Hangeul Museum on Hangeul Day today, the oldest Korean typewriter to exist, Song Ki-ju's 4-set typewriter has been donated to the museum.
Having graduated from Seoul Yonhee College (now Yonsei University), Song studied at Texas State University and University of Chicago. Aside from inventing the Korean typewriter in 1933, which was sold by Underwood Typewriter Company, he created the first 3D relief map of Korea.
His grandson, Song Se-young, made the decision to donate the typewriter to the museum.
The typewriter's unique 4-set arrangement of vowels and consonants of the complex Korean alphabet allowed users to efficiently form Hangeul words by frequently using the shift and space keys. Song's typewriter has influenced the development of Kim Joon-sung's and Gong Byung-woo's typewriter models.
Upon donation, Song Se-young shared his compelling story. "During the Korean War, my grandfather and my father were taken to North Korea by a retreating soldier. My father was fortunate to escape, but my grandfather was not," Song said. "Whenever my father missed my grandfather, he stared longingly at the typewriter. To share the value and meaning of this typewriter would have been the wishes of my grandfather and father. (yjw@gmail.com)
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| The National Hanguel Museum in Yongsan opens today. / Yonhap |
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| Young visitors read on a bench decorated with Korean letters at the new National Hangeul Museum in Yongsan, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
