Introduction

1. Objectives of the Project

1.1. Objectives of the Project

Machine writing of Korean began with the invention of a typewriter and a printer. As the machine writing became further developed helped by the arrival and the following development of photocopiers, computers and the art of graphic design, Korean fonts also came to be evolved into many shapes.

Korean fonts have been developed into various types according to the development of the means of communication such as books, newspapers, magazines, TV subtitles, advertisements, typewriters, computers, electric bulletin boards, road signs, ID stamps, wrapping paper, calligraphic art and digital devices for communication. The pace of their development and evolution is expected to gain more speed as consumer demands for visual effect grows.

A font, or a letter type, is one of the basic cultural tools required for communication between people. That is why we spend our resources to create more artistic and functional letter types on the basis of academic researches. Developing highly functional and artistic fonts that also perfectly match with the rules of writing is a good step forward to improve the cultural life of people. It is more so in the 21century than ever because it is the age of culture and information. In this context, we should not spare our energy in carrying out systematic R&D activities to encourage and protect the information-oriented businesses committed to fonts. It will be a major infrastructure which is essential for increasing national competitiveness in this age of information and globalization.

In today’s Korea, over 500 employees from 10 companies are engaged in the business of developing fonts. So far, they have developed over 1,800 font types. The outward growth of the industry, however, does not necessarily mean that its future is all bright. Despite that the development of Korean fonts requires more time, energy, money and creativity, than, say, English, legal and institutional protection measures are still not in place. A lack of cooperation and information exchange between developers aggravates the situation, causing wasteful duplication, market disruption and so on. Still worse, the developers cannot avoid working on the fonts of Chinese characters, which have long been part of Korean writing tradition and whose development is much harder than Korean fonts.

In the past, Korea had no choice but to import photocomposers from Japan along with Korean fonts developed by Japanese developers, paying, as a result, a great amount of money as royalty. We need to prepare specific measures to protect Korean font developers not to repeat the sad history.

Thanks to the rapidly increased use of computer, many Koreans today are interested in the font industry. It is time now for the government and organizations in the public sector should make concrete efforts to support the industry, not just leaving this important sector to individual developers and their companies. There was once a similar effort in 1992, when the Font Development and Distribution Center was established by the System Engineering Research Institute of Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology an organ affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology. But it had to be closed soon after than due to various difficulties. For Japan, the situation is much better. In November, 1988, the country established the Font Development and Distribution Center under JIS with developers and users as its members. Since then, Japan has been successfully carrying out productive activities to support their font industry such as the development of the Heisei font , establishment of a font library, researches and conferences.

Established by the support of the Korean government, the Korean Font Development Center aims at systematic management and development of Korean fonts as well as collection of basic data. Detailed activities of the organization are as follows.

1.2. Necessity of the Project

1.2.1. Researchers on Fonts

The center performs systematic and comprehensive researches on the font development in Korea and overseas, providing the results for individuals and businesses. The center also focuses its attention to the specialized fonts used by specific academic areas such as the Korean language, publication, design, computer, medical science, education and psychology. It supports font developers and those who perform researches in the related field.

1.2.2. Development of the Font Processing Technology

The digital technology used for information processing of the Korean language needs supports at national level considering its importance in relation with the issue of standardization, its impact on the industry and prevention from submission to overseas technologies. In this context, the center supports font developers by providing them with knowledge about international technologies and trends, standardization of developing techniques, and opportunities for joint development.

1.2.3. Support for the Distribution of Fonts

One of the most urgent demands from font developers in Korea is that there should be strong protection measures for their creative product so that they can have from it a reasonable level of income which they will spend for further investment in the font development. The center will prepare an effective system in close cooperation with the industry to prevent circulation of illegal copies. It will also establish a rational system of deliberation, registration, reading and purchase to help the industry continue to be productive and profitable.

1.2.4. Education and PR on Fonts

The center plans to support the public education on writing, collects and exhibits historical data and achievements of academic activities, and provides font developers with theories and principles of font development. Considering that fonts are unique as a tool for which practical purport for communication of information is combined with artistic expressions, developing highly functional and artistic fonts is very important for raising the level of culture.

1.2.5. Protection of Copyright

The center supports the development of fonts by preparing efficient legal and institutional measures to protect font developers. It also focuses its attention on preparing for the possible international conflict on copyright and protecting national resources from flowing out by technological submission of the Korean font industry to overseas developers.

1.2.6. Importance of Font in the Information Age

Developing basic technologies for information processing of the Korean language and supporting the related IT industries are essential not only for strengthening industrial infrastructure but also for improving people’s cultural life. As well-developed fonts are a powerful tool for efficient communication and productive cultural life, the font industry should receive sustained support and cooperation at national level.