Dr. Homer Hulbert
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Homer Hulbert
There is a great deal of history interspersed
throughout Seoul’s urban landscape.
Sometimes, when I’m out taking Grigsby for a walk, I walk past the
Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and pass through Ju Si-Gyeong Garden. Ju Si-Gyeong is an extremely important figure
in Korean history. He is well-known for
coining the term “Hangeul,” establishing the Korean Language Society, and being
one of the founders of modern Korean linguistics. However, the eponymous garden also contains a
statue memorializing another figure who contributed to the advancement of Korean
linguistics – Homer Hulbert. I recently
had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Kim Dong-Jin, Chairman of The Hulbert
Memorial Society, in Ju Si-Gyeong Garden to learn more about Homer Hulbert and
his role in Korean history.
Chairman of The Hulbert Memorial Society,
Kim Dong-Jin, presenting me with a copy of “Samin Pilji”
Homer Hulbert was born in Vermont, my wife
Robyn’s home state. He graduated from
Dartmouth College before coming to Korea in 1886 to teach English at the Royal
English School. During his time in
Korea, he founded the magazine The Korea
Review, wrote multiple textbooks that saw wide circulation, and supported
the Korean independence movement. He
gained the trust of Emperor Gojong and traveled to the United States as the Emperor’s
emissary to protest Japan’s colonial advances.
However, his most prominent role was in advancing Hangeul and the modern
Korean language.
Hulbert devoted a great deal of his life to
learn about Korea and its language. He
wrote many English-language articles and books about the country, and dedicated
his life to understanding its language.
His research took him deep into the history of Hangeul and the
orthography and phonology of the Korean language, and wrote the first Korean
Hangeul textbook, “Samin Pilji.” Ju Si-Gyeong was, in fact, his student,
receiving his initial scholarly understanding of the Korean language from
Hulbert. The two also collaborated on
the publication of “Dok-rip Shinmun” (meaning “Independent Newspaper”). Hulbert’s work, along with the work of Ju
Si-Gyeong, would eventually become the academic foundation for modern research
of the Korean language.
Learning about Homer Hulbert’s book, “Samin
Pilji,”—the first Hangeul textbook from Chairman Kim
In 1907, Hulbert was forced to return to
the United States after being expelled from Korea by the Japanese
resident-general. Hulbert continued to
inform the American people about what was happening in Korea during this
time. He finally returned to Korea in
1949 at the invitation of President Syngman Rhee. One week later, while he was here in Korea, Homer
Hulbert passed away at the age of 86 and was buried at Yanghwajin Cemetery.
Reading the text inscribed on the
memorial
It was great to learn about Homer Hulbert’s
life, his work, and the role he played in fostering the relationship between
our two nations. I want to thank Kim
Dong-Jin and the other members of The Hulbert Memorial Society for their great
passion and hard work in keeping this important part of history alive.
Photo with the members of The Hulbert Memorial
Society
If you are ever in the area, I encourage
you to walk through Ju Si-Gyeong Garden and take a moment to visit the statues
of Ju Si-Gyeong and Homer Hulbert with the knowledge of the impact they had in Korean
history.
