Detail

To mark the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Hunmaengjeongeum, a commemorative postage stamp is issued to honor the dedication of Songam Park Du-seong, known as the “King Sejong of the Visually Impaired,” and to reflect on the significance of Hunmaengjeongeum, the Korean Braille system he created. Hunmaengjeongeum is a six-dot Korean Braille system developed to enable people with visual impairments to read and write Korean through touch. Combinations of six dots are used to represent consonants, vowels, and numbers. It was designed according to principles that made it easy to learn, required fewer dots, and helped distinguish one character from another. Braille is a tactile writing system in which raised dots are read with the fingertips, providing an important means for people with visual impairments to acquire knowledge and information and communicate with the world. Upon taking his post as a teacher at the Department for the Blind and Deaf of Jesaengwon under the Japanese Government-General of Korea in 1913, Park Du-seong faced the reality that visually impaired students were taught only Japanese Braille. Faced with this reality, he began researching Korean Braille in 1920. Together with his students, he formed the Korean Braille Research Committee and continued his research, ultimately proclaiming Hunmaengjeongeum on November 4, 1926, after years of dedicated effort. Guided by his belief, “The only way to help them overcome all disabilities is to teach them to read and write and to cultivate their minds,” Park devoted his entire life to the education of people with visual impairments. His efforts extended beyond the completion of Hunmaengjeongeum. He pioneered nationwide correspondence education for people with visual impairments and personally transcribed and distributed textbooks, works of literature, practical manuals, and other materials in Braille. For a full century, Hunmaengjeongeum has played an important role in enabling people with visual impairments to acquire knowledge and live independently as members of society. The portrait of Park Du-seong is rendered using an artistic motif based on “dots,” the fundamental elements of Braille, adding further symbolic meaning to the design. Issued in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Hunmaengjeongeum, may this postage stamp long honor Park’s noble commitment to bringing the light of learning and communication to others and serve as an enduring reminder of the precious value of enabling everyone to connect with the world through the written word.