SK Telecom uses AI to revitalize century-old Korean linguistic records

SK Telecom has launched the ‘2026 Malmoe’ campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hangeul Day. In collaboration with the National Institute of Korean Language and the National Hangeul Museum, the company is using its proprietary AI foundation model, ‘A.X K2’, to revitalize historical Korean linguistic records.

By analyzing scanned manuscripts from the ‘Malmoe’ project—a collection of Korean language manuscripts compiled by Ju Si-gyeong and his disciples a century ago—the AI has developed a new typeface called ‘Malmoe-che’. This font, which can be downloaded for free from the Hangeul Society website, was created by extracting the morphological characteristics of consonants and vowels from the original handwritten records.

Additionally, the AI model identified 100 beautiful pure Korean words that are less common in modern daily life but remain evocative, such as ‘Yunseul’ (the sparkling ripples of sunlight or moonlight on water) and ‘Sutnun’ (fresh, untouched snow). These words will be compiled into a book to be donated to the National Hangeul Museum. The campaign also incorporates historical audio recordings of linguist Lee Geuk-ro, preserved at the National Library of France, to connect written and spoken linguistic heritage through modern technology.