[1] Hunminjeongeum was intended to be a simpler alternative to the incumbent Chinese-based Hanja, in order to promote literacy among the general populace.

Sejong the Great also commissioned the creation of a companion explanatory manuscript entitled Hunminjeongeum Haerye.

[1] In 1962, Hunminjeongeum Haerye was designated a National Treasure in South Korea[1] and was registered by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Programme in 1997.

[5] The illiteracy level also stayed high since reading and learning Chinese characters was restricted among the ordinary people.

[4] In order to make written language more accessible for common people, Sejong the Great started creating Hangul secretly, since the ruling class would be appalled by the news.

[1] The writing system is referred to as Hangul today but was originally named as Hunminjeongeum by King Sejong.

[14] The first paragraph of the document reveals Sejong the Great's motivation for creating Hangul: Because the speech of this country is different from that of China, it [the spoken language] does not match the [Chinese] letters.