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VA Korean mother releases illustrated Hangul book for son

October 9, 2015
Jung Won-jung

Jung Won-jung

By Christine Ha

An illustrated book written by the mother of a second-generation Korean American was released last month. Its Korean title translates to ”Youngjin’s mom’s proud showcase of the Korean alphabet Hangul.”

Jung Won-jung, who is raising a son, Young-jin, an elementary school student, found herself sitting with his teacher one day being told of his attention problems and of his frequently verbal Korean pride.

The teacher asked Jung to make a special presentation to the class introducing Korean culture and Hangul.

Jung agreed. Her 30-minute presentation — which included a lesson on King Sejong and his role in the creation of the alphabet and traditional hanbok — was turned into an illustrated book written in English and Korean with the purpose of instilling Korean pride into children.

Youngjin's mom

Youngjin’s mom is proud to tell you about the Korean alphabet Hangul.

Jung said the book is the first in a coming series on introducing Korea.

“This is a book that mother and child can read together,” she said.

Jung is an art lecturer at New River Community College who studied art at Seoul National University, Japan’s Tama Art University and Cal State Fullerton.