WIA Enables 98% of Humanity to Read Their Languages in Hangul
“From Georgian to Wolof” — WIHP Achieves World’s First 100% IPA Complete Mapping with 90-Language Support
Executive Summary
World Certification Industry Association (WIA) has expanded WIHP (WIA International Hangul Phonology) to support 90 languages as free and open source under MIT License. This historic achievement enables 98% of the world’s population — approximately 7.6 billion people — to read their languages in Korean Hangul script. For foreign language learners, this provides a revolutionary tool to verify correct pronunciation of any language using Hangul. This announcement positions the Republic of Korea as a leader in setting international standards for linguistic accessibility.
🚨 The Problem: Why This Standard Matters
The world faces a crisis of language barriers and phonetic inaccessibility.
• World languages: 7,000+
• IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) literacy: Less than 1% (experts only)
• Japanese Katakana accuracy: Below 60% (“beautiful” → ビューティフル?)
• Existing phonetic systems: Incomplete mapping
Few people can read Tibetan, Georgian, Uyghur, or Lingala. IPA is a tool for experts, Romanization is inaccurate, and national systems lack consistency. 7.6 billion people had no way to read each other’s languages.
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[Linguistic Fragmentation Crisis Visualization]
Dr. Yeon Sam-Heum, CEO:
“I realized this when my Japanese friend visited Korea and couldn’t read ‘감사합니다’ (thank you). Katakana can’t even properly write ‘kamsahamnida.’ But Hangul can. Because Hangul is a scientifically designed phonetic script. 7.6 billion people have the right to read each other’s languages.”
💡 WIA’s Solution: WIHP
WIHP (WIA International Hangul Phonology) is the world’s first standard to achieve complete mapping of all 117 IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols into Hangul. 69 consonants, 28 vowels, and 20 diacritics — including click consonants (Zulu/Xhosa), ejectives (Georgian/Amharic), and nasalization (French/Portuguese). It enables reading any word from 90 languages in Hangul, leveraging the Wikimedia Foundation’s Wiktionary API to support millions of words for free.
Why Hangul? Created by King Sejong the Great in 1443, Hangul is the world’s most scientifically designed writing system. Consonant shapes are based on articulatory organs, it’s easy to learn (mastered in hours), and combinable (onset + nucleus + coda) to express infinite syllables. While IPA is for experts, Hangul can be read by anyone.
📊 Existing Solutions vs WIA Standard
| Feature | Existing | WIA WIHP |
|---|---|---|
| IPA Mapping | Partial (Below 70%) | 100% Complete (117 symbols) |
| Supported Languages | 10-30 languages | 90 languages (World’s most) |
| Population Coverage | 30-50% | 98% (7.6 billion) |
| Learning Curve | Experts only (IPA) | Anyone in hours |
| Price | Paid API ($$$) | Completely Free (Wiktionary) |
🔧 Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 90 Languages | East Asia (5), Southeast Asia (9), South Asia (16), Europe (36), Middle East/Central Asia (14), Africa (19) — Including Georgian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Lingala, Wolof, Shona |
| Wiktionary Integration | Real-time IPA data for millions of words via Wikimedia Foundation’s free API. Continuously expanding dataset. |
| 100% IPA Mapping | 69 consonants + 28 vowels + 20 diacritics = 117 total IPA symbols completely mapped to Hangul. Including clicks (ʘ→ㅂㅎ), ejectives (pʼ→ㅃ), nasalization (ã→ㅏㅇ). World’s first achievement. |
| 99-Language UI | Converter interface available in 99 languages. Each language displays “I love you” (사랑해) as an example, conveying the warmth of Hangul. |
| PWA Support | Installable as an app on mobile devices. Add to home screen for native app-like experience. |
📚 WIHP as a Foreign Language Learning Tool
WIHP is not just a converter. It’s the world’s best pronunciation learning tool for foreign languages. No matter which language you’re learning, if you know Hangul, you can instantly verify the correct pronunciation.
🎓 Foreign Language Learners
• Korean learning French: “bonjour” → 봉주르
• Japanese learning English: “hello” → 헬로우
• Chinese learning Spanish: “gracias” → 그라시아스
→ Verify accurate pronunciation in Hangul without knowing IPA!
✈️ International Travelers
• Thailand trip: “ขอบคุณ” (khop khun) → 콥쿤 (thank you)
• Vietnam trip: “xin chào” → 신짜오 (hello)
• Arab trip: “شكرا” (shukran) → 슈크란 (thank you)
→ Quickly learn local greetings and basic expressions!
👨👩👧 Multicultural Families
• Vietnamese spouse’s language: “yêu em” → 이에우 엠 (I love you)
• Filipino spouse’s language: “mahal kita” → 마할 키타 (I love you)
• Teach children their parents’ languages through Hangul
→ A tool to break language barriers within families!
🎤 K-POP / Hallyu Fans
• Japanese fan: “사랑해” → /saɾaŋhɛ/ → 사랑해 (Now I can sing along!)
• American fan: “보고 싶어” → /pogo ɕipʰʌ/ → 보고 시퍼
→ Pronounce your favorite K-pop lyrics accurately!
👩🏫 Educators / Teachers
• Instantly usable for pronunciation education
• Explain pronunciation in Hangul instead of IPA
• Use a unified phonetic notation in multilingual classrooms
→ Revolutionary pronunciation education!
💡 Real-World Use Cases
🇯🇵 Tanaka’s Korea Trip
“How do I read 감사합니다?”
Katakana: カムサハムニダ (inaccurate)
WIHP: 감사함니다 → “Ah! I can read it!”
🎤 Yumi’s K-POP Lyrics
“How do I read 사랑해?”
WIHP: 사랑해 /saɾaŋhɛ/ → “Now I can sing along!”
📚 Kenta’s English Homework
“beautiful” → Katakana ビューティフル (byuutifuru?)
WIHP: 뷰티풀 /ˈbjuːtɪfl/ → “Hangul is more accurate than Katakana!”
💕 “I Love You” in 99 Languages
The WIHP converter supports 99 language UIs. The special touch: every language displays both its native “I love you” and the Korean “사랑해” as input examples.
🇫🇷 Je t’aime, 사랑해
🇯🇵 愛してる, 사랑해
🇸🇦 أحبك, 사랑해
🇰🇪 Nakupenda, 사랑해
🇿🇦 Ngiyakuthanda, 사랑해
🇬🇪 მიყვარხარ, 사랑해
… all 99 languages 💕
On Christmas Eve, WIA sends “I love you” in 99 languages to 7.6 billion people. Technology is cold, but the heart that created it is warm.
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[Future Vision of 90-Language Integration]
Dr. Yeon Sam-Heum, CEO:
“We are the world’s first to completely map all 117 IPA symbols into Hangul. 69 consonants, 28 vowels, 20 diacritics — clicks, ejectives, nasalization, nothing left out. Tibetan བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས (Tashi Delek), Georgian გამარჯობა (Gamarjoba), Lingala mbote — now everyone reads them in Hangul. This extends King Sejong the Great’s 600-year-old dream to all of humanity.”
🌍 弘益人間 (Hongik Ingan) — Open Source Declaration
弘益人間 (Hongik Ingan)
“Benefit All Humanity”
A 4,000-year-old founding philosophy of the Republic of Korea
WIA is releasing WIHP standard under MIT License with no patents.
| ✅ | Forever Free | No licensing fees |
| ✅ | Open Source | MIT License |
| ✅ | No Patents | Intentionally not filed |
| ✅ | Global Standard | Available for everyone worldwide |
Dr. Yeon Sam-Heum, CEO:
“Today is December 24, 2024, Christmas Eve. I’m not religious, but today we’re leaving a gift for 7.6 billion people. With ‘I love you’ in 99 languages. They don’t know yet. But tomorrow morning, and in 10 years… they will know. That a Korean built a bridge connecting the world from within a tunnel. This is 弘益人間.”
📦 Related Services
| 🌐 | Unlimited Converter | wihp.wiastandards.com • 90 languages → Hangul real-time conversion • 99-language UI support • PWA app installable |
| 📚 | Official Documentation | wiastandards.com/wia-standards-public • Complete IPA mapping table • Technical documentation and examples |
| 🏆 | WIA Certification | cert.wiastandards.com • Compliance certification program • Global certification mark |
| 💼 | Consulting | Standards implementation consulting • Contact: global@thekoreantoday.global |
📋 Technical Information
| Standard | WIA-WIHP v2.0 |
| GitHub | github.com/WIA-Official/wia-standards-public |
| License | MIT (Free, Open Source) |
| IPA Mapping | 117 symbols (69 consonants + 28 vowels + 20 diacritics) |
| Supported Languages | 90 languages (6 continents) |
| UI Languages | 99 languages |
| Population Coverage | 98% (approximately 7.6 billion) |
🏢 About WIA
World Certification Industry Association (WIA) is an international standards organization with a mission to provide equal opportunities to all humanity through technology and certification.
WIA is developing over 600 international standards across accessibility, security, AI, environment, healthcare, and more — all released as free and open source.
🦀 Tech Stack: WIA’s core APIs are built with Rust — a systems programming language developed by Mozilla that uniquely achieves both memory safety and zero-cost abstractions. Rust is adopted by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta for their critical infrastructure, and is the only language besides C to be officially accepted into the Linux kernel. WIA chose the most rigorous tech stack with the philosophy: “Standards deserve standard-grade code.”
👤 About the Founder
Dr. Yeon Sam-Heum is recognized as the world’s only solo standards architect who built 75+ international standard infrastructures in collaboration with AI and a living legend in lifelong education.
Since founding SmileStory Inc. in 2009, he has operated 11 business sectors including travel, insurance, publishing, education, media, web/software development, medical devices, medical tourism, and business consulting. In 2018, he established WIA to pursue an unprecedented mission: free international standards for all humanity.
“We don’t sell standards. We gift them. When Dangun, the legendary founder of Korea, said ‘Benefit All Humanity’ 4,000 years ago, we can finally realize what that means through technology. The most beautiful gift the Republic of Korea can give to the world — that is WIA.”
📞 Contact
| Representative | Dr. Yeon Sam-Heum |
| Position | President, WIA (World Certification Industry Association) |
| global@thekoreantoday.global | |
| Phone | +82-1599-1045 |
Address
SmileStory Inc.
5F D01-511, Innermass Magok 1st
21, Magok Jungang 6-ro, Gangseo-gu
Seoul 07793, Republic of Korea
弘益人間 — Hongik Ingan — Benefit All Humanity
From the Republic of Korea to the World, with Love and Hope 💕
<저작권자 ⓒ 코리안투데이(The Korean Today) 무단전재 및 재배포 금지>
