In North and South Korea, language isn't just a tool for communication. Instead, it is an important symbol of national identity since the Koreans are the only nations on Earth that speak it. The Korean language and alphabet are essential to Korean national identity because they have allowed citizens to form a unified society and to retain their culture through years of oppression, and in modern times they exemplify the ties that still bind the north and south together and provide hope for possible reunification. Although the culture and politics of North and South Korea could not be more opposite from one another, the use of the same language provides common ground and a cultural foundation that cannot be ignored.
The unique Hangeul alphabet is immediately recognizable, as it takes a very different form than Chinese and Japanese characters. Functioning on a phonetic basis, learning to read the Korean language is intuitive for Western learners although the grammar and sentence structures are much more difficult to master. The creation of Hangeul was completed by King Sejong in the year 1446, and since it was created only for the Korean people, Hangeul gives Koreans direct connections to their ancestors and a special sense of identity. Hangeul is important in strengthening Korean national identity because it serves as a constant visual reminder of the uniqueness of Korean culture and its resilience throughout history. In the twentieth century, foreign occupation plagued the Korean peninsula but Koreans fought to maintain the integrity of their language as a symbol of their national identity. Hangeul grew to be a symbol of Korean national pride during this period, especially when the Japanese occupied the peninsula and tried to eradicate Korean culture. During this colonial period Korean authors were not permitted to publish in their native language, thus the seemingly simple act of continuing to write in Hangeul rather than Japanese became a brave refusal to surrender to imperial demands. Although it was invented in the fifteenth century, this period of occupation allowed Hangeul to become a source of pride and a symbol of unification for the Korean people which continues today.
Versions of the Korean language are fundamentally similar in the north and the south, but they also evidence the changes that have occurred in each society since the nations were divided. In North Korea, the government has long sought to close the nation off from the rest of the world. To exemplify this, the Korean language has been subject to purging in order to remove foreign influence. In order to eradicate all threat of outside influence, the government consistently tries to remove borrowed words of other languages from the North Korean dialect and replace them with the Korean words which best match the meaning. In contrast, South Korea has greatly increased its relations with the rest of the world and has expanded its form of the Korean language to include words from other nations. As the nation opened up to trade with the rest of the world, it experienced an extraordinary economic leap that catapulted it into the realm of the most influential and prosperous countries. Since South Korea developed such close relationships with other nations, words for brands and stores were added to the Korean vernacular in their original languages, especially English, rather than attempting to translate them. Instead of considering this a pollution of their language, it is usually seen as a positive symbol of South Korea's success in becoming an international presence and opening itself to the world.
The use of the Korean language in both North and South Korea is evidence of the bond these nations still share and gives hope that someday they may be able to begin the reunification process. The divisions that exist today have been destructive to the relationship between people living in the North and the South, but this divide was created by the influence of other nations and authoritarian leaders and not by the will of the people. The two countries are inherently connected by common history, as for hundreds of years the Korean people fought side by side to preserve their culture and be free to practice their traditions. The connections forged by tradition cannot be wiped away by a dictatorial regime or even by decades of separation. The gap in culture that exists today between the North and South Koreans can be overcome with time considering that the common language makes it possible for the citizens of each nation to communicate and so understand each other’s differences. Since the division, North Korea has become a place of fear, oppression and economic stagnation. The consequences of re-absorbing this territory into South Korea's vibrant economic and social landscape are drastic, but the alternative of leaving the North Korean people to suffer indefinitely is truly unthinkable.
