Korean

A red east Asian temple overlooking water, overlaid with Korean script

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There are 78 million native speakers of Korean living in both North and South Korea, as well as in diaspora communities. Korean aristocracy previously used classical Chinese for writing, but modern Korean is written mainly in Hangul, an alphabet unique to Korean. There are fourteen consonants and ten vowels in Hangul, which are combined to form fifty-one new letters. Well-known Korean speakers include the actress Yunjin Kim, best known in Asia for the Korean film Shiri, and in the US for her role on the television show Lost. Park Chan-wook has received international recognition for his screenwriting and direction of the "Vengeance Trilogy", which includes the films Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. Pak Wanso, a contemporary South Korean author, wrote The Naked Tree, a novel, as well as many short stories.

First, second, and third year Korean language courses are offered each year. At present, there is not a Korean major, but it is possible to minor in Korean.