SK Telecom revives century-old Korean dictionary manuscript with AI in Hangul Day campaign

'Malmoui' manuscript restored with AI

100 native Korean words selected, from 'yunseul' to 'sunnun'

A model presents the "2026 Malmoui" booklet, which features 100 native Korean words selected by SK Telecom's AI foundation model A.X K2. [SK Telecom]

SK Telecom has used its proprietary AI foundation model, A.X K2, to recreate the typeface of "Malmoui," a Korean dictionary manuscript compiled more than a century ago.

SK Telecom announced Wednesday that it is launching a campaign called "2026 Malmoui" to mark the 100th anniversary of the designation of Hangul Day, in partnership with the National Institute of Korean Language and the National Hangeul Museum.

The campaign aims to bring written and spoken records of the Korean language back into everyday use.

SK Telecom fed A.X K2 a complete scanned copy of the Malmoui manuscript — compiled by linguist Ju Si-gyeong and his students — along with native Korean vocabulary from the National Institute of Korean Language's Standard Korean Dictionary and Urimalsaem database. Drawing on that analysis, the company developed a typeface called "Malmoui-che" and, after review by the National Institute of Korean Language, selected 100 beautiful native Korean words curated by AI.

The Malmoui-che typeface was developed starting from the manuscript's entry for the consonant "giyeok." A.X K2 analyzed the characters in the manuscript as images, identified the shapes of consonants and vowels, and used those findings to complete the typeface. The font is available for free download on the website of the Korean Language Society.

AI was also used to unearth native Korean words that have fallen out of everyday use. A.X K2 combed through the Standard Korean Dictionary and Urimalsaem to identify 100 words based on criteria including lyrical or positive imagery in their definitions, natural usability in contemporary contexts, and suitability for titles, names, subtitles and similar applications.

The 100 selected words include "yunseul," meaning the glittering ripples of sunlight or moonlight on water; "sunnun," referring to clean, untouched snow after a snowfall; "punnaj," describing an acquaintance one knows just well enough to recognize by face; and "bolumul," the word for dimples.

SK Telecom plans to compile the 100 native Korean words into a printed booklet and donate it to the National Hangeul Museum.

Alongside the written Malmoui manuscript, the campaign also draws on a spoken record of the Korean language: a voice recording by Korean linguist Lee Geuk-ro, preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. SK Telecom released a campaign video Wednesday on its YouTube channel featuring both the Malmoui manuscript and Lee's voice recording.

SK Telecom is also running a customer participation component of the campaign. Through its official SNS channels, the company will share reels and card-format posts introducing regional dialects and generational neologisms. Customers who take part in the event will be entered into a draw for prizes including a special edition of the "2026 Malmoui" booklet and a "2026 Malmoui-che" keycap set.

"We designed this campaign so that the Korean words gathered by our ancestors more than a century ago could be carried forward through AI and shared with everyone — as a font anyone can use and as words anyone can speak," said Lee Seung-yeol, head of SK Telecom's Strategy Communications division. "We will continue working to ensure AI can help preserve the value of our language and culture."

Meanwhile, SK Telecom unveiled A.X K2 in July. The model has 688 billion parameters and improves on its predecessor, A.X K1, in mathematical and scientific reasoning, Korean language knowledge, and long-form comprehension. SK Telecom is expanding the model's applications across industrial settings — including manufacturing, defense and biotech — as well as everyday services.

woo@heraldcorp.com