Decline of Hanja[edit]

The Hangul-Hanja mixed script was a commonly used means of writing, and Hangul effectively replaced Hanja in official and scholarly writing only in
the 20th century. Hangŭl exclusive writing has been used concurrently in Korea after the decline of literary Chinese. Mixed script could be commonly
found in non-fiction writing, news papers, etc. until the enacting of Park Chung Hee's 5 Year Plan for Hangŭl Exclusivity[18] hangŭl jŏnyong ogaenyŏn
gyehuik an (Korean: 한글전용 5 개년 계획안; Hanja: 韓㐎專用 5 個年 計劃案) in 1968 banned the use and teaching of Hanja in public schools, as well
as forbade its use in the military, with the goal of eliminating Hanja in writing by 1972 through legislative and executive means. However, due to public
backlash, in 1972 Park's government allowed for the teaching of Hanja in special classes but maintained a ban on Hanja use in textbooks and other
learning materials outside of the classes. This reverse step however, was optional so the availability of Hanja education was dependent on the school
one went to. Park's Hanja ban was not formally lifted until 1992 under the government of Kim Young-sam. In 1999, the government of Kim Dae-
jung actively promoted Hanja by placing it on signs on the road, at bus stops, and in subways. In 1999, Han Mun was reintroduced as a school elective
and in 2001 the Hanja Proficiency Test hanja nŭngryŏk gŏmjŏng sihŏm (Korean: 한자능력검정시험; Hanja: 漢字能力檢定試驗) was introduced. In
2005, an older law, the Law Concerning Hangul Exclusivity hangŭl jŏnyonge gwahak pŏmnyul (Korean: 한글전용에 관한 법률; Hanja: 韓㐎專用에 關한
法律) was repealed as well. In 2013 all elementary schools in Seoul started teaching Hanja. However, the result is that Koreans who were educated in
this period having never been formally educated in Hanja are unable to use them and thus the use of Hanja has plummeted in orthography until the
modern day. Where Hanja is now very rarely used and is almost only used for abbreviations in newspaper headlines (e.g. 中 for China, 韓 for Korea,
美 for the United States, 日 for Japan, etc.), for clarification in text where a word might be confused for another due to homophones (e.g. 이사장(李 社
長) vs. 이사장(理事長)), or for stylistic use such as the 辛 (Korean: 신라면; Hanja: 辛拉麵) used on Shin Ramyŏn packaging.

Since June 1949, Hanja have not officially been used in North Korea, and, in addition, most texts are now most commonly written horizontally instead
of vertically. Many words borrowed from Chinese have also been replaced in the North with native Korean words, due to the North's policy of linguistic
purism. Nevertheless, a large number of Chinese-borrowed words are still widely used in the North (although written in Hangul), and Hanja still appear
in special contexts, such as recent North Korean dictionaries.[19] The replacement has been less total in South Korea where, although usage has
declined over time, some Hanja remain in common usage in some contexts.

Character formation[edit]
Each Hanja is composed of one of 214 radicals plus in most cases one or more additional elements. The vast majority of Hanja use the additional
elements to indicate the sound of the character, but a few Hanja are purely pictographic, and some were formed in other ways.

The historical use of Hanja in Korea has had a change over time. Hanja became prominent in use by the elite class between the 3rd and 4th centuries
by the Three Kingdoms. The use came from Chinese that migrated into Korea. With them they brought the writing system Hanja. Thus the hanja being
used came from the characters already being used by the Chinese at the time.

Since Hanja was primarily used by the elite and scholars, it was hard for others to learn, thus much character development was limited. Scholars in the
4th century used this to study and write Confucian classics. Character formation is also coined to the idu form which was a Buddhist writing system for
Chinese characters. This practice however was limited due to the opinion of Buddhism whether it was favorable at the time or not.

Eumhun[edit]
To aid in understanding the meaning of a character, or to describe it orally to distinguish it from other characters with the same pronunciation, character
dictionaries and school textbooks refer to each character with a combination of its sound and a word indicating its meaning. This dual meaning-sound
reading of a character is called eumhun (음훈; 音訓; from 音 'sound' + 訓 'meaning,' 'teaching').

The word or words used to denote the meaning are often—though hardly always—words of native Korean (i.e., non-Chinese) origin, and are
sometimes archaic words no longer commonly used.

Education[edit]
South[edit]
South Korean primary schools ceased the teaching of Hanja in elementary schools in the 1970s, although they are still taught as part of the mandatory
curriculum in grade 6. They are taught in separate courses in South Korean high schools, separately from the normal Korean-language curriculum.
Formal Hanja education begins in grade 7 (junior high school) and continues until graduation from senior high school in grade 12.

A total of 1,800 Hanja are taught: 900 for junior high, and 900 for senior high (starting in grade 10).[20] Post-secondary Hanja education continues in
some liberal-arts universities.[21] The 1972 promulgation of basic Hanja for educational purposes changed on December 31, 2000, to replace 44 Hanja
with 44 others.[22]