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Naewonsa Temple – 내원사 (Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do)

Naewonsa Temple in Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Temple History

Naewonsa Temple is located up the beautiful Naewonsa Valley beneath the peaks of Mt. Cheonseongsan (920.1 m) in Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do. The temple was first founded by Wonhyo-daesa (617-686 A.D.) during the reign of King Munmu of Silla (r. 661-681 A.D.). According to a legend written in the “Songgoseungjeon” (僧傳 宋), there were 1,000 Chinese monks worshiping at Taehwasa Temple in Tang China (618–690, 705–907 A.D.). They were in danger of being buried at the temple because of torrential rain and the potential for a landslide. Upon realizing this, Wonhyo-daesa threw a wooden board up into the air. The monks saw this strange board in midair and thought that it was rather mysterious. As a result, they all ran out of the shrine hall. After they had all exited the temple, a landslide destroyed the shrine hall. However, because of the wooden signboard, which read “Throwing the board, Wonhyo saves the people,” Wonhyo-daesa did in fact save the one thousand monks at the temple. Because of this, the one thousand monks sought Wonhyo-daesa. These one thousand monks would eventually become Wonhyo-daesa’s one thousand disciples.

After arriving on the Korean Peninsula, Wonhyo-daesa went in search of a place to stay with his 1,000 disciples. Eventually, they would arrive at Mt. Cheonseongsan. Here, they were greeted by Sanshin (Mountain Spirit) and guided to the general area of where Naewonsa Temple would eventually be built. After guiding Wonhyo-daesa and his disciples, the Mountain Spirit quickly disappeared. There is a shrine hall with a painting of Sanshin inside it where the Mountain Spirit eventually led Wonhyo-daesa and his one thousand disciples.

The shrine hall dedicated to the Sanshin (Mountain Spirit) of Mt. Cheonseongsan that led Wonhyo-daesa and his 1,000 disciples.
And the painting dedicated to Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit) inside the shrine hall.

Wonhyo-daesa would build 89 temples and hermitages in the area. Additionally, and according to this legend, it is said that a large drum was placed in the area in front of Mt. Cheonseongsan. The beating of this drum would announce the beginning of Wonhyo-daesa’s lectures to his disciples on the mountain about the Avatamsaka Sutra. Eventually, these one thousand disciples would become sages/saints; and it’s to these sages/saints that the temple gets its name, “A Thousand Sages/Saints Mountain – Cheonseongsan.”

Much later, and during the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), most of the 89 temples and hermitages were lost in flooding. There remain a few of these temples and hermitages on Mt. Cheonseongsan like Nojeonam Hermitage, Wonhyoam Hermitage, Hongryongsa Temple; and, of course, Naewonsa Temple. During the Korean War (1950-53), Naewonsa Temple was destroyed. In 1955, the temple was rebuilt by the nun Suok from Sudeoksa Temple. In total, thirteen buildings were built over a five year period. Now, there are approximately 70 nuns that reside at Naewonsa Temple.

In total, there is one Korean Treasure at Naewonsa Temple, it’s the “Bronze Gong of Naewonsa Temple,” which is Korean Treasure #1734.

The entry of Naewonsa Temple in October, 2006.

Temple Layout

You first approach Naewonsa Temple up a beautiful valley. During the summer months, this valley is packed with visitors splashing around in the cascading and pooling water. Up a paved road, you’ll find the Naewonsa Temple grounds. In total, there are ten buildings on the temple grounds. Naewonsa Temple is a very active temple; however, most of the temple buildings are off-limits to visitors.

As you first approach the temple grounds, you’ll notice that the road forks. To the right is the main temple courtyard, while to the left you’ll find the Bulimun Gate. The Bulimun Gate is adorned with a pair of paintings on the doors dedicated to Narayeon Geumgang and Miljeok Geumgang (The Twin Guardians of Korean Temples). Through the Bulimun Gate, you get a great view of the temple courtyard; however, you’re not allowed to pass through this entry gate. It’s off-limits to the general public. Instead, you’ll need to backtrack to the fork in the road and head right.

To the right, you’ll first encounter a cluster of nuns’ dorms and parking spaces for the nuns’ vehicles. It’s in this area that you’ll find a rather unique mural. In this mural, there are a group of nuns/monks walking along a trail. This trail looks to resemble the Hwaeomneup Wetlands near the summit of Mt. Cheonseongsan. Additionally, the painting resembles one of the Shimu-do (Ox-Herding Murals). It’s unclear who the nuns/monks are following, but it could be an ox, Wonhyo-daesa, or even a Sanshin (Mountain Spirit). Either way, this mural is highly original and new.

As you continue to head straight, you’ll come to a pathway with a slight incline. This pathway leads up towards the Daeung-jeon Hall. This Daeung-jeon Hall was built within the past ten years. The exterior walls are adorned with two sets of murals. The lower set is the Shimu-do (Ox-Herding Murals), while the upper set is the Palsang-do (The Eight Scenes from the Buddha’s Life). Both are beautiful in their composition. Stepping inside the Daeung-jeon Hall, you’ll find an understated main altar with an understated triad on the main altar. The central image in the triad is dedicated to Seokgamoni-bul (The Historical Buddha). This image is joined on either side by Munsu-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Wisdom) and Bohyeon-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Power). The triad rests under a slender, golden canopy. The interior of the main hall is lined with Buddhist motif murals that include the Dragon Ship of Wisdom, the Bodhidharma and Dazu Huike (487-593 A.D.), as well as Wonhyo-daesa and Uisang-daesa (625-702 A.D.). In addition, you’ll find a beautiful, large Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural) housed inside the Daeung-jeon Hall to the right of the main altar.

To the right of the Daeung-jeon Hall, you’ll find a two-story building. The first appears to be a gift shop, while the second story appears to be a residence of some sort. In front of this two-story structure is a small, wooden pavilion that houses a replica of the “Bronze Gong of Naewonsa Temple,” which is currently housed at neighbouring Tongdosa Temple. In front of this wooden pavilion and a row of benches are a collection of miniature paper lanterns that are all colours of the rainbow.

You don’t need to pay to get into Naewonsa Temple, per se. Instead, you need to pay 2,000 won to get into the Mt. Cheonseongsan area. So in a round about way, admission to Naewonsa Temple is 2,000 won.

How To Get There

From the Yangsan Intercity Bus Terminal, you can take a bus that directly goes to Naewonsa Temple. These buses leave every ten minutes. Once you arrive outside the Naewonsa Temple grounds, you’ll need to walk 30 minutes up the valley to get to the temple.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Naewonsa Temple is beautifully located in the folds of Mt. Cheonseongsan up a scenic valley. At the end of the valley, you’ll come to Naewonsa Temple. There are numerous highlights to this temple, but a couple that stick out are the paintings that adorn the Bulimun Gate doors in the direction of the off-limit section of the temple grounds, as well as the beautiful new Daeung-jeon Hall. It’s filled, both inside and out, with beautiful Buddhist murals.

Part of the beautiful, long valley that leads up to Naewonsa Temple.
A modern tortoise-based biseok (stele) near the entry of the temple grounds.
The bridge that leads up to the temple grounds.
A look through the Bulimun Gate towards the off-limits section of the temple grounds.
The wonderfully original painting of Wonhyo-daesa’s 1,000 disciples.
A bridge that leads up towards the second story of the nuns’ dorms at Naewonsa Temple.
The newly built Daeung-jeon Hall.
Some of the beautiful floral latticework that adorns the front of the newly built main hall.
One of the Shimu-do (Ox-Herding Murals) that adorns the exterior of the Daeung-jeon Hall.
The main altar inside the Daeung-jeon Hall.
Part of the Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural) inside the main hall.
A mural dedicated to Wonhyo-daesa and Uisang-daesa inside the Daeung-jeon Hall.
That’s joined by this mural dedicated to the Bodhidharma and Dazu Huike.
And another of the Dragon Ship of Wisdom.
A bronze gong to the front right of the Daeung-jeon Hall.
And a collection of miniature paper lanterns near the pavilion that houses the bronze gong.

Korean Numbers 1-20 – How to count up to twenty

In this article, we will teach you about the Korean numbers 1-20.

Orange clouds with the numbers 1 and 20 on top of them

Here is how Koreans count from 1 to 20 in general. Note that in Korean, there are two different number systems. The Sino-Korean number system and the Native Korean number system.

To start, here are the numbers for the Sino-Korean number system:

  1. 일 (il) – One
  2. 이 (i) – Two
  3. 삼 (sam) – Three
  4. 사 (sa) – Four
  5. 오 (o) – Five
  6. 육 (yuk) – Six
  7. 칠 (chil) – Seven
  8. 팔 (pal) – Eight
  9. 구 (gu) – Nine
  10. 십 (sip) – Ten
  11. 십일 (sibil) – Eleven
  12. 십이 (sibi) – Twelve
  13. 십삼 (sipsam) – Thirteen
  14. 십사 (sipsa) – Fourteen
  15. 십오 (sibo) – Fifteen
  16. 십육 (sibyuk) – Sixteen
  17. 십칠 (sipchil) – Seventeen
  18. 십팔 (sippal) – Eighteen
  19. 십구 (sipgu) – Nineteen
  20. 이십 (isip) – Twenty

Now that you know these numbers, we’ll help you learn everything else you need to know about Korean numbers 1 through 20. Let’s get to it!

What are Sino-Korean numbers?

Sino-Korean numbers are based on characters in the Chinese language and are used to indicate dates, phone numbers, and addresses. It is also used when counting money. If you’d like to know more about Chinese characters in the Korean language, we have a separate article about Hanja.

Sino-Korean Numbers 1-20

Below is the list of Korean numbers from 1-20 using the first Korean counting system, Sino-Korean number system.

  1. 일 (il) – One
  2. 이 (i) – Two
  3. 삼 (sam) – Three
  4. 사 (sa) – Four
  5. 오 (o) – Five
  6. 육 (yuk) – Six
  7. 칠 (chil) – Seven
  8. 팔 (pal) – Eight
  9. 구 (gu) – Nine
  10. 십 (sip) – Ten
  11. 십일 (sibil) – Eleven
  12. 십이 (sibi) – Twelve
  13. 십삼 (sipsam) – Thirteen
  14. 십사 (sipsa) – Fourteen
  15. 십오 (sibo) – Fifteen
  16. 십육 (sibyuk) – Sixteen
  17. 십칠 (sipchil) – Seventeen
  18. 십팔 (sippal) – Eighteen
  19. 십구 (sipgu) – Nineteen
  20. 이십 (isip) – Twenty

What are Native Korean numbers?

Native Korean numbers are what Koreans generally use for counting in everyday life, such as time, age, number of items, or people. These can also be used with Korean counter words, such as 개 (gae), 명(myeong), or 벌 (beol).

Native Korean Numbers 1-20

Here are the Korean numbers from 1-20 using the Native Korean number system.

  1. 하나 (hana) – One
  2. 둘 (dul) – Two
  3. 셋 (set) – Three
  4. 넷 (net) – Four
  5. 다섯 (daseot) – Five
  6. 여섯 (yeoseot) – Six
  7. 일곱 (ilgop) – Seven
  8. 여덟 (yeodeol) – Eight
  9. 아홉 (ahop) – Nine
  10. 열 (yeol) – Ten
  11. 열하나 (yeolhana) – Eleven
  12. 열둘 (yeoldul) – Twelve
  13. 열셋 (yeolset) – Thirteen
  14. 열넷 (yeollet) – Fourteen
  15. 열다섯 (yeoldaseot) – Fifteen
  16. 열여섯 (yeoryeoseot) – Sixteen
  17. 열일곱 (yeorilgop) – Seventeen
  18. 열여덟 (yeoryeodeol) – Eighteen
  19. 열아홉 (yeorahop) – Nineteen
  20. 스물 (seumul) – Twenty

Which Korean numbers should I learn first?

We recommend learning Sino-Korean numbers first for two reasons. First, it is easier to learn. Sino-Korean number words are usually shorter than the Korean words for Native Korean numbers, so they’re easier to memorize.

Secondly, it is more practical. The Sino-Korean number system is used to tell dates, phone numbers, and addresses. It is also used for larger numbers, such as hundreds or thousands, which are essential words in Korean currency.

How to say the Korean numbers 1-20

Let’s learn how to say each number further with the help of the sample sentences below.

1 in Korean

하나 (hana) / 일 (il)

Native: 그녀는 사과 하나를 가지고 있어요. (Geunyeoneun sagwa hanareul gajigo isseoyo.)

She has one apple.

Sino: 일 층에 가주세요. (Il chunge gajuseyo.)

Please go to the first floor.

2 in Korean

둘 (dul) / 이 (i)

Native: 둘만 남았어요. (Dulman namasseoyo.)

Only two are left.

Sino: 이 달러예요. (I dalleoyeyo.)

It’s two dollars.

3 in Korean

셋 (set) / 삼 (sam)

Native: 셋이서 함께 갈까요? (Sesiseo hamkke galkkayo?)

Shall the three of us go together?

Sino: 삼 일 후에 봐요. (Sam il hue bwayo.)

See you in three days.

4 in Korean

넷 (net) / 사 (sa)

Native: 넷이서 게임을 했어요. (Nesisseo geimeul haesseoyo.)

Four of us played a game.

Sino: 사 층으로 가세요. (Sa cheungeuro gaseyo.)

Go to the fourth floor.

5 in Korean

다섯 (daseot) / 오 (o)

Native: 다섯 명이 왔어요. (Daseot myeongi wasseoyo.)

Five people came.

Sino: 오 분만 기다려 주세요. (O bunman gidaryeo juseyo.)

Please wait for five minutes.

6 in Korean

여섯 (yeoseot) / 육 (yuk)

Native: 여섯 시에 만나요. (Yeoseot sie mannayo.)

Let’s meet at six o’clock.

Sino: 육 번을 눌러주세요. (Yuk beoneul nulleojuseyo.)

Please press number six.

7 in Korean

일곱 (ilgop) / 칠 (chil)

Native: 일곱 개의 색이 있어요. (Ilgop gae-ui saek-i isseoyo.)

There are seven colors.

Sino: 칠은 행운의 번호예요. (Chireun haengunui beonhoyeyo.)

Seven is a lucky number.

8 in Korean

여덟 (yeodeol) / 팔 (pal)

Native: 여덟 살 때 학교에 갔어요. (Yeodeol sal ttae hakgyoe gasseoyo.)

I went to school when I was eight.

Sino: 팔 번 버스를 타세요. (Pal beon beoseureul taseyo.)

Please take the bus number 8.

9 in Korean

아홉 (ahop) / 구 (gu)

Native: 아홉 개를 샀어요. (Ahop gae-reul sasseoyo.)

I bought nine of them.

Sino: 구 층에 있어요. (Gu chunge isseoyo.) –

It’s on the ninth floor.

10 in Korean

열 (yeol) / 십 (ship)

Native: 열 사람이 왔어요. (Yeol sarami wasseoyo.) –

Ten people came.

Sino: 십 분만 더 기다려주세요. (Ship bunman deo gidaryeo juseyo.)

Please wait ten more minutes.

11 in Korean

열하나 (yeolhana) / 십일 (ship-il)

Native: 열하나의 별이 빛나고 있어요. (Yeolhanaui byeori bitnago isseoyo.) –

Eleven stars are shining.

Sino: 십일 월에 만나요. (Sibil wole mannayo.)

Let’s meet in November.

12 in Korean

열둘 (yeoldul) / 십이 (sip-i)

Native: 모두 합해서 열둘이요. (modu hapaeseo yeolduriyo.) –

It’s twelve in total.

Sino: 십이 월은 겨울이에요. (Sibi woleun gyeourieyo.)

December is winter.

13 in Korean

열셋 (yeolset) / 십삼 (sip-sam)

Native: 열셋까지 셀 수 있어요? (yeolsetkkaji sel su isseoyo?) –

Can you count to 13?

Sino: 십삼 일은 금요일이에요. (Sipsam ireun geumyoirieyo.)

The thirteenth is a Friday.

14 in Korean

열넷 (yeollet) / 십사 (sip-sa)

Native: 열넷은 너무 많아요. (yeolleseun neomu manayo)

Fourteen is too much.

Sino: 십사 호선을 타세요. (Sipsa hoseoneul taseyo.)

Take line fourteen.

15 in Korean

열다섯 (yeoldaseot) / 십오 (sip-o)

Native: 열다섯 권의 책을 읽었어요. (Yeoldaseot gwon-ui chaeg-eul ilgeosseoyo.) –

I read fifteen books.

Sino: 십오 분만 기다려 주세요. (Siboo bunman gidaryeo juseyo.)

Please wait for fifteen minutes.

16 in Korean

열여섯 (yeolyeoseot) / 십육 (sip-yuk)

Native: 열여섯 살 때 콘서트에 갔어요. (Yeolyeoseot sal ttae konseoteue gasseoyo.) –

I went to a concert at sixteen.

Sino: 십육 일에 시험이 있어요. (Sipyuk ire siheomi isseoyo.)

There’s an exam on the sixteenth.

17 in Korean

열일곱 (yeorilgop) / 십칠 (sip-chil)

Native: 열일곱 개의 선물을 받았어요. (Yeolilgop gae-ui seonmureul badassseoyo.) –

I received seventeen gifts.

Sino: 내가 묵을 방은 십칠 호예요. (naega mugeul bangeun sipchil hoyeyo.) –

The room I’ll be staying in is room 17.

18 in Korean

열여덟 (yeoryeodeol) / 십팔 (sip-pal)

Native: 열여덟 살 때 대학에 갔어요. (Yeolyeodeol sal ttae daehake gasseoyo.)

I went to college at eighteen.

Sino: 십팔 번 버스를 타세요. (Sippal beon beoseureul taseyo.)

Take bus number eighteen.

19 in Korean

열아홉 (yeorahop) / 십구 (sip-gu)

Native: 열아홉 살 때 해외여행을 갔어요. (Yeolahop sal ttae haewaeyeohaenge gasseoyo.)

I went on an overseas trip at nineteen.

Sino: 십구 일은 목요일이에요. (Sipgu ireun mogyoirieyo.)

The nineteenth is a Thursday.

20 in Korean

스물 (seumul) / 이십 (i-sip)

Native: 스물 다음은 스물 하나예요. (Seumul daeumeun seumul hanayeyo.)

After twenty, it’s twenty-one.

Sino: 이십 분 후에 만나요. (Isip bun hue mannayo.)

Let’s meet in twenty minutes.

Wrap Up

Counting in Korean isn’t as hard as it seems, right? Now, you know how to count up to 20 in the Korean language using the two Korean number systems. 잘했어요 (good job)!

If you want to start learning Korean numbers beyond 20, we will teach you all about it in this article.

The post Korean Numbers 1-20 – How to count up to twenty appeared first on 90 Day Korean.

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Korean Courses – The Top 23 Online Language Programs

If you’re interested in learning Korean the right way, Korean courses are the way to go!

Below, we’ll cover the top 23 online language programs for learning Korean.

A boy using his laptop with books flying around him

These are the top courses we recommend for learning Korean online.

1. 90 Day Korean
2. Udemy
3. Mango Languages
4. Loecsen
5. Rocket Korean
6. Pimsleur Korean
7. Verbling
8. Coursera: First Step Korean
9. iTalki
10. Hills Learning
11. Glossika
12. Lingodeer
13. Learn Langs
14. My Language Connect
15. King Sejong Institute
16. Cyber University of Korea
17. KoreanClass101
18. Hanyang University’s Online Korean Course
19. FluentU
20. StoryLearning: Korean Uncovered
21. Quick Korean
22. How to Study Korean
23. Talk to Me in Korean

In this article, we will go over these courses in detail. Whether you are completely new to the Korean language, have already studied it before, or have self-studied by consuming Korean language media, you are likely to learn just the right course for you.

Let’s see, which one will you pick?

Online Korean Courses

Thanks to today’s digitalization era, learning new things has become more convenient. Learning the Korean language is no different! Ideally, we might all want to travel to the country where the language is spoken and attend Korean language classes there, but that is impossible for everyone.

That’s where learning a language online comes in. Using online resources for language learning is simply so convenient and versatile. You can easily listen to music, watch dramas or movies, read news clips, challenge yourself with digitalized flashcards, and, of course, choose from many online Korean courses to attend one or more.

And the absolute best part? It can all be done whenever is most convenient for you! Below, we have listed 23 stunning courses worth looking at right now to help you find your pick.

Top Online Korean Language Courses in 2023

In this section, we believe you will find the right Korean course – one or more! – to start or continue studying the language with.

1. 90 Day Korean

First of all, have you already checked out all of the resources our own site has to offer? Many start to learn Korean by going through Korean textbooks for learning. Thus, we have also answered that need by releasing our own Korean book, Learn to Read Korean in 60 Minutes, which can easily be added onto your Kindle and be taken with you anywhere you go. And the best part is that it’s completely free!

And what if you loved the content provided in our Korean book? Well, we’ve got far more than that to offer you! First of all, our blog is full of great material to use to support your studies.

Inner Circle Course

Once you’ve scoured through our free resources and would like to commit to more, we offer our own Korean online course as well! Our Inner Circle offers you the same content that you would be able to learn through Korean textbooks. However, the execution is rather different. Our class has a very similar vibe to a traditional classroom environment. You will also be able to receive personal coaching.

The classes and lessons focus on the essentials of your language learning journey, skipping over fillers. We’re also utilizing psychology and stories that make the lessons unforgettable – quite literally!

By signing up for our VIP program, in addition to the personal coaching, we will also offer you homework grading. Having to do homework for an online class may sound like a drag, but we believe it is a great way to learn immediately in practice what you’ve just been taught in class.

Overall, we have four modules available, each of them lasting 90 days. That’s a whole year’s worth of lessons! By the end of it all, you’ll know far more than just the basics of the language. In Module 3, we dive into things like Korean slang, and in Module 4, we focus on spoken communication.

2. Udemy

Udemy is an online academy of sorts that offers courses in many different areas of life, the Korean language being one among them. There are several different courses offered for Korean, some of which are more popular than others.

Many of these classes focus on learning spoken Korean, so while you’ll still learn the Korean alphabet, much of the vocabulary and grammar is taught through speaking communication concepts. Classes are available for both complete beginners and those with prior knowledge.

3. Mango Languages

Mango Languages is an app that offers language learning in more than 70 languages, including Korean. It will teach you full sentences to work with, and it will be great to practice your pronunciation with, for example. If you love to learn through repetition, it is an excellent resource.

However, there is not much available past the intermediate level, and there is no deep dive taken to understanding Korean grammar.

4. Loecsen

With Loecsen, you can get a quick run into the Korean language, and especially its essentials. There are 17 lessons overall that utilize word association to help you remember. There are even quizzes available so you can keep track of your learning.

This site is perfect for those who want to learn how to survive some everyday situations in Korea, such as placing a restaurant order. However, you’ll have to look elsewhere for more intense Korean classes.

5. Rocket Korean

Rocket Languages is a website that also offers lessons in multiple different languages, including Korean classes.

Their program is well-structured and will offer a clear path for progression. It also allows for skipping lessons if you are feeling like it. However, it is likely not recommended if you want to get a full foundation of the language.

Their instructional dialogues only cover the essentials, so very little time is spent on anything a student may consider filler. It covers listening, writing, reading, and speaking Korean starting from the very beginning of learning the language. However, unfortunately, the course may not yet offer classes reaching all the way to the more advanced levels of Korean.

6. Pimsleur Korean

Yet another site offering lessons in multiple different languages, including a Korean online course, is Pimsleur.

The classes at Pimsleur also emphasize lessons on spoken communication, and thus, the focus is on improving your speaking skills. The lessons are structured in detail, and the length is just long enough to offer you a proper lesson but not so long that you would lose focus.

However, unlike some other courses, you cannot customize the speed with which the lesson moves. And, while the classes all complement one another, they are largely audio-based. Thus, this might be a difficult class for a visual learner.

7. Verbling

With Verbling, you will sign up for a Korean online course with a personal teacher of your choice. You will work from a type of online classroom and have tools like flashcards, a calendar for your homework, and a system with which you can file all the lesson materials as you get them.

The lessons are well-structured, and finding a high-quality teacher shouldn’t be difficult. The focus is also more on long-term progression, so it is for someone who likes to commit to their studies. Also note that, unfortunately, not all of the teachers stick to the flashcards and materials provided by the site.

8. Coursera: First Step Korean

Unlike most other courses on this list, Coursera’s First Step Korean isn’t a full-stretch Korean online class. Instead, it is mostly an introduction to the language, comprising five lessons, each of which includes four units.

You will learn the basics of the language, and improve your Korean language skills such as reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills. It is offered through Yonsei University, a prestigious university in Seoul. In addition to English, it is available in seven other languages. Thus, it can offer a good foundation for many to continue their studies.

9. iTalki

Yet another site that offers language classes in numerous different languages is iTalki, with more than 300 teachers signed up to teach Korean. With these tutors, you can get private and personalized online lessons.

Before committing to any teacher, you may also try out multiple different ones by booking trial lessons with them. However, you will want to take note that these trial lessons are not free. Also, the content of the classes, as well as the price, depends entirely on the teacher.

But, on the good side, you can search for teachers based on what type of Korean they teach, for example, conversation practice, business Korean, test preparation, or Korean for kids.

10. Hills Learning

Based in New York, Hills Learning focuses on offering classes in various Asian languages, including Korean. They offer physical classes in their academy, but some can be taken online.

They offer several different classes from beginner to pre-intermediate level. Each course lasts for 8 weeks, with 1.5 hours worth of classes taught each week. Note that these classes are quite pricey, but their live classes are of top quality. It’s possible to take private classes, but they are also offered in small group settings.

11. Glossika

Glossika’s curriculum for Korean classes vastly differs from most others on this list. There are no textbooks in use, and grammar does not play a big part.

Instead, Glossika uses a rather unique method of teaching the Korean language one sentence at a time. And it does it so that you will repeat each sentence numerous times until it has been stuck in your head.

There are thousands of sentences available, with audio provided by native speakers. It promises teaching Korean language that gets you to speak Korean in a natural way.

12. Lingodeer

Lingodeer is a language app that offers lessons in Korean as well. Although it adds gamification to its lessons, it follows a well-structured path to learning.

In comparison to many other language apps, Lingodeer shines in a positive light, at least when it comes to lessons offered in Korean and other Asian languages. It will give you a solid foundation to start building your Korean language journey, with each lesson complementing the one before.

However, at least right now, it only offers lessons for beginners and perhaps intermediate-level learners.

13. Learn Langs

Learn Langs is a great course for those hoping to take a deep dive into the Korean alphabet specifically. It actually does not cover anything else besides the Hangul.

However, it offers six lesson units, each of which covers a different aspect of the alphabet. Taking this class will give you a strong understanding of Hangul, after which you can take other classes on this list to learn everything else about Korean.

14. My Language Connect

My Language Connect is another site offering private lessons in numerous languages, including Korean. On it, you will get assigned a private tutor with whom you will take classes via Zoom.

This Korean online course can be especially efficient if you are preparing to take TOPIK. However, you will need to commit and pay for at least 10 classes on this site.

15. King Sejong Institute

King Sejong Institute is especially renowned for its live classes. However, in the past couple of years, they’ve also begun adding more Korean online courses into their repertoire. There are also online resources you can use without officially signing up for a class.

Meanwhile, their classes typically last for at least a few weeks. The majority of the lesson content is created using the institute’s own textbooks. They also offer culture courses for those interested in learning more than just the language. However, while there is a lot of variety in course offerings, they may not always be available to sign up for.

16. Cyber University of Korea

Affiliated with the prestigious Korea University, Cyber University of Korea is a free resource for Korean classes. Their amount of content is rather comprehensive, and their YouTube channel, especially, is easy to navigate. However, it may prove to be difficult to navigate the website itself to find the lesson material.

17. KoreanClass101

With KoreanClass101, you will especially get trained on your listening comprehension. The audio-heavy lessons follow a style that is similar to a podcast. Lessons are offered to any level, from beginner to advanced, covering essential vocabulary and grammar.

At this time, it seems the majority of their content targets beginner-level learners. However, they are continuing to work on more lessons for higher-level learners. The lessons are also kept short and sweet, so you can include your Korean classes even on a busier day. The site also utilizes tools like flashcards to enhance your learning.

18. Hanyang University’s Online Korean Course

Over the course of 10 weeks, this Korean online course provided by Hanyang University promises to be an intensive journey into beginner-level Korean. It does, however, assume that you already know the Korean alphabet, so it won’t be appropriate for someone with zero knowledge of the language.

The lessons are taught in video format, using Hanyang University’s own Korean textbooks. Their on-site language program is considered among the best in Korea, so at least some of that should transfer onto their video lessons as well. The course focuses mainly on grammar, vocabulary, and expressions.

19. FluentU

FluentU offers classes in several languages but is perhaps most famous for its Korean online course. It creates language lessons through movie trailers, music videos, news, inspiring talks, and other unique content.

Basically, the vocabulary and grammar structures chosen for each class come from the video material picked. However, it aims to keep everything you learn in relation to everyday life.

In addition, FluentU also utilizes a lot of quizzes that will help you in memorizing what you’ve learned thus far. It can also be downloaded as an app if you prefer that over a website.

20. StoryLearning: Korean Uncovered

Coupled with a unique, creative name, Korean Uncovered by StoryLearning promises its students a comprehensive lesson guide to the Korean language.

Currently, it offers a course for beginners and another one for pre-intermediate level. The 20 modules in the beginner course have you following a story from start to finish. Each lesson will cover a part of that story, with a teacher breaking down the grammar introduced to you in it. The vocabulary in each part of the story will, of course, be taught to you as well.

You’ll also learn how to read and write Korean. You’ll be taught pronunciation as well, but this program is less focused on verbal communication.

21. Quick Korean

Quick Korean is offering Korean classes for free in a setting that reminds you of a traditional classroom, only online. There are four levels of classes offered, with the difficulty of them increasing with each level. There are also some additional Korean lectures, each lasting around three minutes, that serve to support your learning.

Unfortunately, there is no additional tutoring available. However, the program does promise you that once you have completed it, you should be ready to take on TOPIK.

22. How to Study Korean

How to Study Korean is a free resource that operates similarly to a Korean online course. Its lessons are divided into seven units, each of which contains 25 lessons in total.

There are also some quizzes and unit tests along the way, testing how much of their content you have retained. Each lesson teaches you grammar, as well as new vocabulary. Unfortunately, there is a little visual aspect to their lessons, but each new piece of vocabulary comes with an audio.

And, as long as you like to read, the grammar lessons are always written in detail. Additionally, it appears that the site admins are still working tirelessly to add more lessons to the site.

23. Talk to Me in Korean

Talk to Me in Korean is a resource offering lessons and courses that you can move through at your own pace. They cover beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, and you can even take a language-level test to figure out where you should start.

The lesson forms are mostly video and audio, though they also sell their own textbooks. Besides a structured curriculum, they offer you the option to choose singular video lessons depending on what you wish to learn at that moment.

Wrap Up

Hopefully, among these Korean courses, you can find one or more that you’ll take up studying with! Each of them is perfect for some kind of student. And, with a few put together, you can create your own customized and perfect learning journey into the Korean language!

The post Korean Courses – The Top 23 Online Language Programs appeared first on 90 Day Korean.

Yaksuam Hermitage – 약수암 (Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do)

Yaksuam Hermitage on the Haeinsa Temple Grounds in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Hermitage History

Yaksuam Hermitage is located on the Haeinsa Temple grounds in the foothills of Mt. Gayasan (1,433 m) in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Yaksuam Hermitage was first founded in 1904 by the monk Seongju. Yaksuam Hermitage was later rebuilt in 1927. Currently, the hermitage is a home to nuns (비구니).

Hermitage Layout

You’ll make your way past large, mature trees, a high stone wall, and an auxiliary building, before coming to the entry gate at Yaksuam Hermitage. Stepping inside the main hermitage courtyard, you’ll find what almost looks to be the nuns’ dorms straight ahead of you; but instead, this is the Daeung-jeon Hall at Yaksuam Hermitage. There are other entrances to this multi-purpose building. These entrances are for the meditation hall and administrative offices at the hermitage. The central entrance is for the main hall. Housed inside this shrine hall is a slender statue of Seokgamoni-bul (The Historical Buddha) inside a glass enclosure with three tinier seated statues. Also housed inside the main hall are two older murals. One is dedicated to Jijang-bosal (The Bodhisattva of the Afterlife), while the other mural is an older Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural).

To the left of the Daeung-jeon Hall are some nuns’ dorms, while to the right is the hermitage’s meditation centre. And next to the meditation centre, you’ll find the hermitage’s kitchen. It’s between the Daeung-jeon Hall and the hermitage kitchen that you’ll find a stone set of stairs. It’s up these that you’ll find the Samseong-gak Hall at Yaksuam Hermitage. The exterior walls to the shaman shrine hall are adorned with murals of the Bodhidharma, a collection of rabbits, and a pair of tigers. Stepping inside the Samseong-gak Hall, you’ll find a statue and painting inside a glass enclosure on the main altar dedicated to Chilseong (The Seven Stars). To the left and right of these central images, you’ll find two modern paintings dedicated to Dokseong (The Lonely Saint) and Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit).

A couple of other highlights you can look for at Yaksuam Hermitage, and if they’re open to you, is a beautiful painting dedicated to Jowang-shin (The Fireplace King Spirit) inside the fireplace area underneath the Daeung-jeon Hall. Another interesting highlight, and if you’re invited in by the very welcoming abbess at Yaksuam Hermitage, is the painting inside the meditation centre to the right of the Daeung-jeon Hall. While blackened by age, they have a beautiful painting dedicated to the Bodhidharma and Dazu Huike (487-593 A.D.). The painting illustrates the famed “Cutting Off His Arm,” where Dazu Huike cuts off his left arm to prove his resolve to the Bodhidharma. Rather interestingly, and similar to the story about the beheading of Ichadon (501-527 A.D.); whereas white blood pours forth from Ichadon’s neck, white blood pours forth from Dazu Huike’s left arm in this painting. I asked the abbess just how old the painting was. She couldn’t be anymore specific than a couple hundred years old. Also, I asked her where it was originally located, and this was unknown, as well. Either way, the darkened painting is beautiful, and it’s an inspiritational example on the main altar for the nuns’ at Yaksuam Hermitage to pray to during a meditation session.

How To Get There

To get to Yaksuam Hermitage, you’ll first need to get to Haeinsa Temple. From the Hapcheon Intercity Bus Terminal, you’ll need to board a bus bound for Haeinsa Temple. The bus ride is about 5,000 won. From where the bus lets you off at Haeinsa Temple, you’ll need to find the trail that leads up to Haeinsa Temple. The walk is about one kilometre, and the trail starts to the left of the Haeinsa Temple museum. Arriving at Haeinsa Temple, and standing next to the Iljumun Gate, you’ll need to head south of this entry gate for about 500 metres. From there, there’s a road that you’ll need to follow for an additional 200 metres. In total, and from the Iljumun Gate, the walk should take about 10 minutes, or 700 metres.

Overall Rating: 3/10

There’s not too much to see at Yaksuam Hermitage, but they’re very welcoming at this hermitage. The main altar inside the Daeung-jeon Hall is simple and nice. The other main higlights to this hermitage are the painting dedicated to Jowang-shin near the fireplace underneath the main hall, as well as the historic painting dedicated to both the Bodhidharma and Dazu Huike inside the meditation centre.

First approaching the hermitage grounds.
And passing through the entry gate.
The Daeung-jeon Hall at Yaksuam Hermitage.
The main altar inside the Daeung-jeon Hall.
Joined by this older Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural).
The view from the Samseong-gak Hall.
The Bodhidharma painting that adorns the exterior of shaman shrine hall.
Joined by this pair of tigers.
Inside the Samseong-gak Hall is this mural dedicated to Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit).
And this Dokseong (The Lonely Saint) mural, as well.
Not the greatest picture of Jowang-shin because it was dark under the Daeung-jeon Hall and it’s behind a plate of glass.
And inside the meditation centre is this beautiful, old mural dedicated to the Bodhidharma and Dazu Huike.

North Korea will Use Nuclear Weapons First in a Serious Contingency – and No One Really Quite Knows What to Do about That

d-thumbnail-600x370This re-posts an article I wrote for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently on N Korea’s likely first-use of nuclear weapons in any serious Korean contingency.

The University of Pennsylvania invited me to participate in two-day forum on nuclear weapons back in September. This is the short paper I brought. Here it is at BAS.

My core argument is that NK will go nuclear almost immediately because: 1. It faces a very intense use-it-or-lose-it dilemma. 2. It can’t hope to win conventionally. 3. Any conflict almost immediately become existential for it.

No one really quite knows what to do in response. Missile defense doesn’t work well enough to guarantee that we can shoot down all their inbounds. And sanctions can only slow NK down, not stop their nuclear march. So my suggestion is to start deconcentrating US forces on the peninsula – to more and smaller US bases – so that they are not such a juicy hostage-taking target.

But that runs directly counter to what we have been doing here for the last decade or so – concentrating US forces in a few super-bases like Camp Humphreys. That may make logistical and financial sense. But it offers huge, inviting, clustered targets of Americans for NK to threaten or strike.

And if they NKs do nukes a US base in East Asia and kill thousands of Americans, the pressure on POUTS to massively retaliate will be enormous. And if we respond by nuking NK, the potential for spiraling escalation, including possibly China is high.

Below is my original, pre-edited and more technical version of my paper:

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) has large incentives to a use a tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) – or several – early in another conflict on the Korean peninsula. Deciding how to respond to this is probably the most important contemporary debate inside the US-Republic of Korea (ROK, South Korea) alliance.

This paper suggests strategic responses to this challenge because it assumes a deal on DPRK weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is highly unlikely. A bargain which controls North Korean WMD would, of course, be ideal. But the most likely window for a breakthrough was during the overlapping ‘dovish’ presidencies of American President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In, and it has closed. For a brief moment, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un faced the most negotiation-interested leaders in the history of his country’s primary geopolitical opponents, the US and South Korea. Trump particularly was a unique American president regarding the DPRK, willing to meet Kim repeatedly without preconditions. Tragically, Kim forewent this Trump-Moon opportunity in 2018-2020. So the North Korea debate in the democratic world – particularly South Korea, the US, and Japan – has reverted to traditional hawkish approaches. If North Korea will not bargain – or, more specifically, if it will only propose deals so balance-negative for the allies that they reject them immediately – then the allies must consider military responses to the likelihood of North Korean first use.

This paper has two sections. First, I elaborate three reasons for likely North Korean first use:

– Operationally, Pyongyang will face an intense WMD ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ dilemma as soon as a war starts.

– Strategically, its conventional military is quite inferior to the forces ranged against it.

– Grand strategically, any serious conflict between the two Koreas will quickly become existential for the North.

Second, I suggest two responses to this difficult challenge:

– At the time of attack, the allies should respond with nonnuclear retaliation as long as politically feasible, in order to prevent further nuclear escalation. However, this will be difficult given the likely post-strike panic and hysteria, so…

– In preparation, the US should deconcentrate its northeast Asian conventional footprint, to reduce North Korean opportunities to nuclearly blackmail regional American clusters, and to reduce potential US casualties and consequent massive retaliation pressures.

North Korean First Use Incentives

The DPRK will probably use nuclear weapons first in a major conflict for three reasons:

1) Operationally, North Korea will likely have only a very short time window in a conflict to use its WMD. The Americans will almost certainly try to immediately suppress Northern missiles. An imminent, massive US-ROK disarming strike creates an extreme use-it-or-lose-it dilemma for Pyongyang. If Kim Jong-Un does not use his nuclear weapons at the start of hostilities, most will be destroyed a short time later by allied airpower, turning an inter-Korean conflict into a conventional war which the North will lose. Frighteningly, this may encourage Kim to release his strategic nuclear weapons immediately too, as they likely also be destroyed momentarily.

2) Strategically, North Korea’s conventional military is almost certainly insufficient against alliance capabilities. The (North) Korean People’s Army (KPA) is large but technologically outdated. Sanctions limit the North’s production and fuel reserves. The country’s chronic malnutrition likely affects its soldiery’s health and fitness. Allied air supremacy would expose DPRK military assets to intense, immediate bombardment. Allied superiority in logistics, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and so on would be tremendous.

The North leverages its proximity to South Korea’s center of gravity, the massive Seoul-Kyeonggi-Incheon corridor of northwestern South Korea. This area is uncomfortably close to the demilitarized zone, and the KPA is flush against the border in order to threaten it. But this conventional countervalue threat – particularly the well-publicized artillery threat to Seoul – does not undermine ROK military capabilities. The South Korean military would likely win a Korean-only conflict, and with American assistance, the DPRK’s defeat would be crushing.

North Korea’s dysfunctional economic model, compounded by sanctions, make catch-up impossible. Closing that gap is an obvious reason for the North’s construction of WMD, and North Korea has unsurprisingly talked up TNWs and their use. Without them, the North would lose the war, and strategically, using them sooner rather than later – before the KPA starts to lose on the battlefield – would be its best move.

3) Grand strategically, nuclear first use is the Kim regime’s best chance at personal survival in a war. Defeat would bring regime change, if not annihilation, for the Kims. This is a critical difference between North Korea, and China and Russia. Russia has probably not used nuclear weapons in Ukraine because the war is not existential. A defeat there is not an offensive threat to the Russian state, territory, or regime of President Vladimir Putin. Similarly, if China were to be defeated around Taiwan, that would not lead to an invasion of the mainland or national collapse. Neither Ukraine nor Taiwan have revisionist intentions against their opponents. South Korea and its American ally do.

The ROK constitution claims sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. A conventional second Korean war would open the possibility of national unity as the KPA was defeated on the battlefield and the South Korean army moved north. Nationalist hopes throughout the peninsula would soar. And for America, the opportunity to finally rid itself of one of its worst adversaries – to push for final victory on Southern terms – would be hugely tempting.

Hence, any serious Korean conflict would quickly become existential for Kim regime and its state. The incentive to launch first – to deter or slow a march northward by the victorious allies – would be tremendous. China might assist the North, per their alliance, but that relationship now is transactional not affective. Escalating to deescalate – using TNWs with threats of further strikes unless the allies stop – would likely be the Kims’ best chance to prevent a catastrophic defeat.

In short, North Korea has massive first use incentives. If it will not bargain to reduce its stockpile, then fashioning an agreed alliance response is critical. And the alliance should do it now. The first wartime use of a nuclear weapon since World War II will likely ignite global panic and terror. That would be a terrible, heated time to think through the allied response. There will be immediate calls for revenge in kind, if not massive retaliation. That would threaten a major US-North Korean nuclear exchange – because North Korea also has intercontinental ballistic missiles and seeks to put them on submarines – and a chain-gang of other regional players into the conflict.

How Should South Korea and the US Respond?

This paper suggests two allied responses – contemporaneous and preparatory – to this tough dilemma:

1) At the time of attack, the US should respond conventionally, not nuclearly. The political pressure to retaliate in kind, or with even greater nuclear force, will, of course, be tremendous, particularly if there were American casualties, which is likely given South Korea’s high population density in its limited habitable space. But there are many reasons why this would be a mistake:

a) The US and South Korea would likely retain conventional superiority despite a DPRK TNW strike. North Korean limited nuclear war options are not necessarily battlefield-decisive. Military necessity would probably not exige nuclear retaliation, so as long as North Korean nuclear use remained limited to tactical strikes.

b) Operationally, nuclear blasts would irradiate the battlefield, making it harder for allied forces to advance northward and finish the conflict. Adding US-created blast zones to those created by the North would worsen the problem. The Korean peninsula is 70% mountainous and only 150-200 miles wide. So the relevant battlespace – mostly between the west coast and the peninsula’s mountain spine – is already narrow; more nuclear blast zones would constrain allied maneuver even further.

c) US nuclear restraint would help swing global opinion – particularly in China and Russia – behind an allied victory. China and Russia oppose Korean unification. They will be tempted to intervene in a conflict to save their valuable spoiler with a long record of distracting their American competitor. Northern nuclear use would dramatically alter that calculus, encouraging Beijing and Moscow to remain neutral or even assist an allied victory out of sheer fear over North Korean behavior. US nuclear retaliation would override that re-evaluation.

d) Conversely, US nuclear use in Korea might chain-gang China and Russia into the war. As the Ukraine War demonstrates, a major conventional conflict involving a nuclear power can be geographically contained. A second Korean war need not spiral out of control. But US nuclear use near China and Russia would pressure both to intervene to save the DPRK from elimination.

e) US nuclear strikes would substantially worsen the reconstruction burden on a post-unification ROK. Blast zones from Northern nuclear strikes would be costly to rehabilitate; US ones too would only add to the load. That South Korea has revisionist intentions on North Korea – that it wishes to absorb it – substantial alters the cost-calculus of American nuclear use. The aggressor would have to pay to decontaminate and rebuild the defender, which is not an element of US nuclear thinking regarding traditional opponents like China or the USSR/Russia.

2) Before the attack, the allies should prepare by deconcentrating America’s northeast Asian force structure, for two reasons:

a) North Korean will likely make immediate nuclear missile threats against regional concentrations of Americans to constrain US options in a Korean contingency. US military bases in South Korea and Japan – especially a very large, proximate site like Camp Humphreys – present obvious missile targets for the North. They concentrate US citizens and assets; missile defense is not assured; they can be taken hostage with missile strike threats.

Russia’s nuclear weapons have kept NATO from deeper involvement in the Ukraine War; the DPRK will likely try the same in Korea by threatening US east Asian bases. If North Korean nuclear blackmail can block, or at least slow, US assistance to South Korea, then Pyongyang’s chances of victory – coupled with TNW use against the ROK army – rise.

b) Mass US nuclear casualties would place nearly irresistible pressure on the US president to respond with nuclear weapons. Congress and the public would be outraged and demand retribution. America’s tendency to geopolitically overreact, and to use extraordinary levels of force in conflicts, is well-established. The larger the US death toll, the greater would be the domestic call for massive retaliation. That could spark a regional nuclear chain-gang.

Traditionally, US soldiers in South Korea were a ‘tripwire.’ Their early deaths in a war would ensure an enraged American public and Congress, and thus a commitment to fight on South Korea’s behalf. This was probably valuable alliance reaffirmation in the era of conventional inter-Korean competition. But in today’s nuclearized and missilized peninsular environment, that tripwire both constrains US options – by presenting obvious missile-hostage threats – and portends a spiraling regional confrontation after a likely American overresponse. Recently, the US has been concentrating its South Korean basing for logistical reasons. Inadvertently, in this Korean missile age, the US is also offering attractive missile targets to the North.

Unresolved Issues

This essay broaches only a few of the many strategic problems broached by North Korea’s spiraling, unchecked nuclear and missile program. All this will worsen as North Korea builds a submarine-based deterrent, improves its targeting with satellites, develops multiple-warhead missiles, and so on. Conventional deterrence in Korea may be stable but nuclear deterrence is probably not. A stable, enduring nuclear stalemate is unlikely in a dyad as asymmetric as North Korea and the US/South Korea.

Three further policy questions flow from the above analysis:

1. Should the allies launch a massive aerial disarming strike in a conflict? As discussed above, North Korea’s fear of that strike incentivizes its nearly-immediate first use. That, in turn, incentives exactly that immediate and large allied disarming strike. Each action responds to the other in worsening regressive spiral. The result is a hair-trigger balance, possibly ending in preemption.

2. Should South Korea build nuclear weapons? North Korea likely hopes that its nuclear weapons – particularly their countervalue threat to the American homeland – will blunt US assistance to South Korea in a conflict, much as oblique Russian nuclear threats have retarded NATO assistance to Ukraine. Direct local nuclear deterrence might stay North Korea’s hand by reducing its nuclear weapons ‘wedge’ between nuclear-but-distant America and nonnuclear-but-proximate South Korea. US objections to ROK nuclearization turn on the erosion of nonproliferation norms, but this is likely exaggerated.

3. Should the US and South Korea give up on unification? As discussed above, Southern revisionism – bolstered by massive inter-Korean economic and conventional asymmetries – makes any serious Korean conflict an existential one for Pyongyang. An existential threat is a good reason to build nuclear weapons. Surrendering South Korea’s pretension to unity might reduce North Korea’s perception that it must have nuclear weapons. South Korean progressives such as former President Moon seem willing to countenance this move to escape from the pressures sketched in this essay. The downsides are costly though: North Korea might not keep its denuclearization word; North Korea’s population would be lost to history’s worst orwellian tyranny; and the US-ROK alliance would likely fracture in obsolescence after an inter-Korea reconciliation.

Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; RobertEdwinKelly.com) is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University.

Robert E Kelly
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science & Diplomacy
Pusan National University

@Robert_E_Kelly

 

 

Korean Numbers 1-10 – Easy Ways to Start Counting

In this article, we will be learning about the Korean numbers 1-10.

Did you know that there are two number systems in Korean? Here are the ones you should start with:

  1. 일 (il) – One
  2. 이 (i) – Two
  3. 삼 (sam) – Three
  4. 사 (sa) – Four
  5. 오 (o) – Five
  6. 육 (yuk) – Six
  7. 칠 (chil) – Seven
  8. 팔 (pal) – Eight
  9. 구 (gu) – Nine
  10. 십 (ship) – Ten

A girl pointing to number 1 and number 10

Once you learn the first system, you can learn the second, as well as when to use each one.

In this article, we’ll teach you how to count from 1-10 using the two systems used in Korea. Let’s get to it!

What are Sino-Korean numbers?

Sino-Korean numbers are a set of numbers derived from Chinese characters.

You can use Sino-Korean system primarily for dates, money, addresses, phone numbers, and minutes and seconds.

This system is also often used in formal or technical contexts, like banking and mathematics.

Sino-Korean Numbers 1-10

The system goes from one to ten and then builds on those basics. Here are the numbers one to ten in Sino-Korean:

  1. 일 (il) – One
  2. 이 (i) – Two
  3. 삼 (sam) – Three
  4. 사 (sa) – Four
  5. 오 (o) – Five
  6. 육 (yuk) – Six
  7. 칠 (chil) – Seven
  8. 팔 (pal) – Eight
  9. 구 (gu) – Nine
  10. 십 (ship) – Ten

What are Native Korean numbers?

Native Korean numbers are the original numerical system used in the Korean language. They are commonly used for everyday counting, such as counting people and objects.

Native Korean Numbers 1-10

Here’s how you can count from 1-1o with the Native Korean number system.

  1. 하나 (hana) – One
  2. 둘 (dul) – Two
  3. 셋 (set) – Three
  4. 넷 (net) – Four
  5. 다섯 (daseot) – Five
  6. 여섯 (yeoseot) – Six
  7. 일곱 (ilgop) – Seven
  8. 여덟 (yeodeol) – Eight
  9. 아홉 (ahop) – Nine
  10. 열 (yeol) – Ten

Which Korean numbers should I learn first?

We recommend learning the numbers in the Sino-Korean system first. They are easier to learn, and they are used more often in Korean.

Once you know them well, then you can focus on the Native Korean numbers.

Picking the right strategy will make learning Korean easier. This is one of the principles we use inside of our structured Inner circle courses.

How to say the Korean numbers 1-10

Below, we’ll show you two ways to say each number from 1-10 in Korean. We’ve also included sample sentences so you can pick up some new Korean words as you learn the numbers.

1 in Korean

하나 (hana) / 일 (il)

Native: 그녀는 사과 하나를 먹었다. (geunyeoneun sagwa hanareul meogeotda.)

She ate one apple.

Sino: 일 분만 기다려주세요. (il bunman gidaryeojuseyo.)

Please wait for 1 minute.

2 in Korean

둘 (dul) / 이 (i)

Native: 그들은 둘 다 좋은 친구입니다. (geudeureun dul da joeun chinguideyo.)

They are both good friends.

Sino: 이 번 출구로 나가세요. (i beon chulguro nagaseyo.)

Go out to exit number two.

3 in Korean

셋 (set) / 삼 (sam)

Native: 우리는 셋이서 영화를 봤어요. (urineun sesiseo yeonghwaleul bwasseoyo.)

We three watched a movie.

Sino: 그는 삼 년 동안 해외에 살았습니다. (geuneun sam nyeon dongan haewae salassseubnida.)

He lived abroad for three years.

4 in Korean

넷 (net) / 사 (sa)

Native: 넷이서 게임을 했습니다. (nesiseo geimeul haetseumnida.)

Four of us played a game.

Sino: 사무실은 사 층에 있어요. (samusireun sa cheunge issoyo)

The office is on the fourth floor.

5 in Korean

다섯 (daseot) / 오 (o)

Native: 그녀에게 다섯 마리의 강아지가 있습니다. (geunyeoege daseot mariui gangajiga issseubnida.)

She has five puppies.

Sino: 오 분 후에 만나요. (o bun hue mannayo)

Let’s meet in five minutes.

6 in Korean

여섯 (yeoseot) / 육 (yuk)

Native: 여섯 살 때 처음 학교에 갔어요. (yeoseot sal ttae cheoeum hakgyoe gasseoyo)

I went to school for the first time when I was six.

Sino: 그들은 육 개월 동안 여행했습니다. (geudeureun yuk gaewol dongan yeohaenghaetseumnida.)

They traveled for six months.

7 in Korean

일곱 (ilgop) / 칠 (chil)

Native: 일곱 개의 무지개 색깔이 있어요. (ilgop gae ui mujigae saekkkari isseoyo.)

There are seven colors in a rainbow.

Sino: 이사 온 지 칠 개월이 되었어요. (isa on ji chil gaewori dweossoyo.)

It’s been seven months since I moved in.

8 in Korean

여덟 (yeodeol) / 팔 (pal)

Native: 여덟 명이 파티에 초대되었습니다. (yeodeol myeong i patie chodaedoe eossseubnida.)

Eight people were invited to the party.

Sino: 그는 팔 개국어를 할 줄 압니다. (Geuneun pal gaegugeoreul hal jul amnida.)

He can speak eight languages.

9 in Korean

아홉 (ahop) / 구 (gu)

Native: 아홉 개의 행성이 태양계에 있습니다. (ahop gaeui haengseongi taeyanggyee itseumnida.)

There are nine planets in the solar system.

Sino: 구 월에 가을이 시작됩니다. (gu wole gaeuri sijakdoebnida.)

Autumn starts in September.

10 in Korean

열 (yeol) / 십 (ship)

Native: 열 명의 학생들이 수업에 참석했습니다. (yeol myeongui haksaengdeuri sueobe chamseokaetseumnida.)

Ten students attended the class.

Sino: 십 년 전에 이 일이 일어났습니다. (ship nyeon jeon e i iri ireonassseubnida.)

This happened ten years ago.

123 in Korean

The Native Korean number system is used when counting in Korean. If you count 1,2,3, you can say it like this:

하나 (hana), 둘 (dul), 셋 (set)

This is also something you say before taking a picture.

Wrap Up

That’s it for the Korean numbers 1-10! Taking it step-by-step makes learning numbers a lot easier, right?

If you’re now ready to proceed to a more extensive lesson on numbers in Korean, you can go to this article.

The post Korean Numbers 1-10 – Easy Ways to Start Counting appeared first on 90 Day Korean.

Living History – Marcy Folta (High School Student – 1972)

Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul in September, 2004.

One of the great things about running a website about Korean Buddhist temples is that you get to meet a lot of amazing people. And a lot of these amazing people have varying backgrounds, interests, and insights. Rather amazingly, some of these people first visited Korea in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Here are their stories!

Q1: Where are you originally from? Introduce yourself a little.

A: I was born in Chicago in 1958 and grew up primarily in the Washington D.C. area. My father worked in Langley, Virginia at the CIA. My family moved to Okinawa, Japan in 1971, when I was 12.

We lived on a small American base called Camp Chinen. My dad traveled around the Far East for weeks at a time to places like Saigon, Singapore, the Philippines, Laos, and Malaysia. I didn’t know what he did or why he went to those places. I was turning 13 and not so interested in my parents, as I was into myself and boys. It was an idyllic time for me and one of my favorite childhood memories. But after one year, our base was shut down and we had to leave the island.  

Q2: When and why did you first come to Korea?

A: We moved straight to Seoul, South Korea in the summer of 1972, where we lived for the next three years on the Embassy compound, which was U.S.O.M. housing on the Yongsan army base. I went to the Seoul American High School for my freshman, sophomore and junior years. These, too, became the best years of my life. 

Q3: When you first came to Korea what city did you live? Did you subsequently move around?

A: Although my family lived in “little America,” as we called our base, I spent lots of time traveling with my friends and my sister all over the country. Unchaperoned! 

We would walk to the gate of our protected compound, take a cab ride to a bus stop, hop on a bus to the train station, get on a train and stay on until we saw a nice area for a picnic, get off the train, spend the day and do it all in reverse to be back home for dinner!

Imagine parents today letting their young teenagers do that even once. That’s how I spent all of my free time! Also, camping was a big part of my life in Korea. 

Namdaemun in Seoul in September, 2004.

Q4: What were places you enjoyed visiting while in Korea?

A: The places I remember going, usually carrying a backpack and/or a tent with a group of friends, were Mt. Seoraksan, Mt. Namsan in Seoul, a dairy farm in the northeast mountains that was run by Americans, several Buddhist temples in remote locations that I can’t recall, and Jeju-do Island by ferry to name but a few. There were also the tourist places in and around Seoul that we went on field trips: Suwon Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and the Blue House (not inside!). We visited parks, hotels, restaurants, bath houses, shops and marketplaces. I learned to speak conversational Hangeul, which was enough to get around. Park Chung Hee (1917-79) was president, while we lived there. Billy Graham (1918-2018) came to Yeoui-do for a crusade, and I went to that. Some of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Super Bowl champions) visited the Yongsan base in some kind of world tour, and I met them. Bob Hope (1903-2003) came to Seoul on tour while we were there, and I saw him, too.

Q5: Did you remain in Korea or did you return home?

A: The Vietnam War ended before we left in 1975. I remember some guy running into the teen club, where I was sitting at a table playing a game of Spades, saying “The war is over,” and we all cheered. 

So, we moved back to the States for my senior year of high school, back to the same area. I graduated from Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia. 

I ended up marrying a boy I had met in Korea. He lived in Jeonju as a missionary kid. We went back to visit after we were married and lived for six months with his parents. Our first child was born in a Jeonju hospital, the same hospital that my husband was born 21 years earlier. 

Baengryeonam Hermitage – 백련암 (Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do)

Baengryeonam Hermitage on the Haeinsa Temple Grounds in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Hermitage History

Baengryeonam Hermitage is located on the Haeinsa Temple grounds in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Additionally, it’s situated the furthest east of all the hermitages on the Haeinsa Temple grounds. Also, Baengryeonam Hermitage is the highest in elevation on Mt. Gayasan of the Haeinsa Temple hermitages, as well. It’s unknown as to when the hermitage was first built, and it’s also unknown who first built Baengryeonam Hermitage. We do know, however, that the hermitage was reconstructed in 1605 by the monk Soam, who was a disciple of Seosan-daesa (1520-1604). Legend has it that during the Imjin War (1592-98), when the Japanese were invading the Korean Peninsula in 1592, that Soam protected Haeinsa Temple through his reputation alone. The Japanese wanted to invade, and were even occupying the neighbouring hillside at Haeinsa Temple, but they didn’t dare invade the temple. Sounds a little far-fetched to me, but that’s the legend all the same.

More recently, the hermitage became famous for being the home hermitage to the monk Seongcheol (1912-93). Not only was Seongcheol the Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order, but he was also believed to be a living Buddha in Korea because of his extremely austere lifestyle. And since his passing, and over the past couple of years, the hermitage has undergone extensive renovations, rebuilds, and reconstruction.

Hermitage Layout

You first make your way towards Baengryeonam Hermitage past a cluster of hermitages. Baengryeonam Hermitage is the last hermitage up this road that also hosts three other Haeinsa Temple hermitages. The walk is beautiful and ends at the Baengryeonam Hermitage parking lot. To your right, you’ll see a grouping of buildings that include the monks’ dorms. But it’s to the left, and around the winding road, that you want to go.

In a forested area, and beneath a large tree, you’ll find a modern seven-story stone pagoda. Keep heading up the road and past the pagoda. Just beyond the trees and the pagoda is a shrine hall with a natural wood finish that is decorated with gold trim. Even the dragons up near the eaves are golden, as well. The panels surrounding the exterior walls are adorned with beautiful, yet simplistic, Shimu-do (Ox-Herding Murals). Taking a peek inside the Daeung-jeon Hall, and past the golden latticework, you’ll notice a triad of statues on the main altar. Seated in the centre of this triad is a statue of Seokgamoni-bul (The Historical Buddha). Standing on either side of Seokgamoni-bul are statues dedicated to Munsu-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Wisdom) and Bohyeon-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Power). The triad rests under an ornate datjib (canopy) with two inward looking dragons (one gold and one blue).

To the right rear of the Daeung-jeon Hall is the Dokseong-gak Hall. The shaman shrine hall is perched above the rest of the hermitage grounds and has just enjoyed a beautiful new coat of dancheong around its exterior walls. There is another shrine hall that’s situated above the rest of the temple grounds just like the Dokseong-gak Hall; but instead of being dedicated to a shaman deity, it’s a Josa-jeon Hall, which honours and commemorates famous monks that once called Baengryeonam Hermitage home. However, to get to this diminutive Josa-jeon Hall, you’ll need to make your way back down the stairs you first came up and head east towards the administrative office. It’s to the left of what looks to be a re-purposed elevated shrine hall that you’ll find the stairs that lead up to the Josa-jeon Hall.

As for the large, seemingly, re-purposed shrine hall, this shrine hall is now dedicated to commemorate the monk Seongchol. When I visited, the shrine hall was still under construction from the floorboards out in front of the shrine hall, to the murals adorning the exterior of this hall. The only thing that wasn’t under construction was the interior of this shrine hall dedicated to Seongchol. Stepping inside this unpainted building, you’ll find a large bronze statue dedicated to Seongchol on the main altar under a large blue and green canopy. I’ve never seen such a large shrine hall dedicated to a single monk at any of the historic temples in Korea and this includes the shrine hall dedicated to Samyeong-daesa (1544-1610) at Jikjisa Temple and the Pyochungsa shrine hall at Daeheungsa Temple. This shrine hall at Baengryeonam Hermitage is definitely a statement.

To the right of the shrine hall dedicated to Seongchol, and past the administrative office, you’ll find an older Yosachae (monks’ dorms), which was presumably used by Seongchol with how it’s preserved and honoured. There are two additional buildings in the area. One appears to be another shrine hall, but it was under construction when I visited. And the other building appears to be more monks’ dorms.

How To Get There

To get to Baengryeonam Hermitage, you’ll first need to get to Haeinsa Temple. And to get to Haeinsa Temple, you’ll first need to get to the Seobu Bus Terminal in Daegu. From here, you can catch an express bus to Haeinsa Temple. This express bus departs every 40 minutes, and the bus ride lasts about an hour and a half. After arriving at Haeinsa Temple, you’ll need to head south from the Iljumun Gate. You’ll pass by a collection of biseok (stele) and budo (stupa). There is a mountain road with a large rock and sign markers that point you towards the four hermitages in this area of the Haeinsa Temple grounds. You’ll first pass by both Huirangdae Hermitage and Jijokam Hermitage along the way. Keep heading east until you eventually come to Baengryeonam Hermitage. In total, the walk from Haeinsa Temple to Baengryeonam Hermitage takes about 36 minutes, or 1.4 km, up a mountainside road.

Overall Rating: 5/10

Baengryeonam Hermitage is one of the most beautifully situated hermitages on the Haeinsa Temple grounds. In addition to all of its natural beauty, there are several shrine halls that visitors can enjoy and explore; however, it’s yet to be determined just how much of a change the hermitage will undergo, as there is a lot of construction currently taking place at Baengryeonam Hermitage. As for the shrine halls that are open to the public, the natural wood and gold trimmed Daeung-jeon Hall is definitely a highlight, as are the Dokseong-gak Hall and the Josa-jeon Hall. But arguably the greatest highlight to Baengryeonam Hermitage is the large shrine hall dedicated to the master monk, Seongchol. Baengryeonam Hermitage is definitely one of the top three hermitages at Haeinsa Temple.

The seven-story stone pagoda and golden Daeung-jeon Hall behind it.
A look towards the monks’ dorms to the right of the hermitage parking lot.
The golden Daeung-jeon Hall at Baengryeonam Hermitage.
One of the Shimu-do (Ox-Herding Murals) that adorns the exterior walls of the main hall.
The beautiful main altar inside the Daeung-jeon Hall.
A look up at the large shrine hall dedicated to the famed monk Seongchol.
The exterior of the yet to be finished shrine hall dedicated to Seongchol.
The view from the Seongchol shrine hall.
A look inside the shrine hall dedicated to Seongchol with a bronze statue of the famed monk on the main altar.
The Yosachae at Baengryeonam Hermitage.
The uniquely designed stone pagoda in the hermitage courtyard.
A finely balanced boulder at Baengryeonam Hermitage.

Living History – Larry “Hyunsung” Martin (Buddhist Monk – 1975)

Novice Precept Ordination with Kusan Sunim from 1975. (Picture Courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).

One of the great things about running a website about Korean Buddhist temples is that you get to meet a lot of amazing people. And a lot of these amazing people have varying backgrounds, interests, and insights. Rather amazingly, some of these people first visited Korea in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Here are their stories!

Q1: Where are you originally from? Introduce yourself a little.

A: I consider myself a native Californian, although I was born in Germany, while my father was a teacher on a U.S. Army base there.

Q2: When and why did you first come to Korea?

A: I developed an interest in Seon Buddhism starting at 17 years old, and I decided to enter a monastery for meditation practice. A friend had gone to Korea with Kusan Sunim (1908-1983), who had come to our hometown of Carmel Valley [California] to start the Sambosa Temple.

Q3: When you first came to Korea what city did you live in? Did you subsequently move around?

A: I went directly to Songgwangsa Temple; and after a few years, I traveled around a bit to explore other temples.

Novice precept ordination at Songgwangsa Temple in 1975. (Picture courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).
Winter meditation retreat gathering at Songgwangsa Temple in 1977. (Picture courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).

Q4: What was the first temple you visited in Korea?

Songgwangsa Temple

Q5: What drew your interest to Korean Buddhist temples? (Buddhism, architecture, art, history, etc)

A: Seon meditation

Q6: What is your favourite temple? Why?

Songgwangsa Temple is closest to my heart, but I really enjoyed Bongamsa Temple, also. The setting of Bongamsa Temple is very special and there was great energy for practice there.

Q7: What temple or hermitage has changed the most from when you were first here? What has changed about it?

Songgwangsa Temple had only recently gotten electricity when I arrived. There was wood for heating the ondol floors and the very small bath that everyone shared privately on bath day. Water had to be carried from the stone basins to use. Water was heated in the fire box of the ondol. No cars drove into the temple, you had to walk in from the little village below.

Q8: What was the most difficult temple to get to? How did you get there?

A: All the temples that were in the mountains, you had to walk in from the bus stop where there was often a small village. Some were very remote like Chilbulsa Temple on Mt. Jirisan, which required a long bus ride on a dirt rode, followed by a long hike on a narrow mountain path to reach.

Q9: Did you remain in Korea or did you return home?

A: I returned home in 1980, having been in Korea for 5 years.

Tea with the monk Do-beop and Robert Buswell at Silsangsa Temple in 2010. (Picture courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).
A Songgwangsa Temple reunion in 2013. (Picture courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).
And another picture from the 2013 reunion at Songgwangsa Temple. (Picture courtesy of Larry “Hyunsung” Martin).

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