Washington International Law Journal Volume 27 Number 3 6-1-2018 Hangeul as a Tool of Resistance Aganst Forced Assimiliation: Making Sense of the Framework Act on Korean Language Minjung (Michelle) Hur Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons Recommended Citation Minjung (Michelle) Hur, Comment, Hangeul as a Tool of Resistance Aganst Forced Assimiliation: Making Sense of the Framework Act on Korean Language, 27 Wash. L. Rev. 715 (2018). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj/vol27/iss3/6 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington International Law Journal by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Compilation © 2018 Washington International Law Journal Association HANGEUL AS A TOOL OF RESISTANCE AGAINST FORCED ASSIMILATION: MAKING SENSE OF THE FRAMEWORK ACT ON KOREAN LANGUAGE Minjung (Michelle) Hur† Abstract: Language policies that mandate a government use a single language may seem controversial and unconstitutional. English-only policies are often seen as xenophobic and discriminatory. However, that may not be the case for South Korea’s Framework Act on Korean Language, which mandates the use of the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, for official documents by government institutions. Despite the resemblance between the Framework Act on Korean Language and English-only policies, the Framework Act should be understood differently than English-only policies because the Hangeul-only movement has an inverse history to English-only movements.