section_path: Reform and standardisation/South Korea
section_name: South Korea
paragraph_text: South Korea
  
  Hanja are still used in South Korea, though not to the extent that kanji are used in Japan. In general, there is a trend toward the exclusive use of hangul in ordinary contexts. Characters remain in use in place names, newspapers, and to disambiguate homophones. They are also used in the practice of calligraphy. Use of hanja in education is politically contentious, with official policy regarding the prominence of hanja in curricula having vacillated since the country's independence. Some support the total abandonment of hanja, while others advocate an increase in use to levels previously seen during the 1970s and 1980s. Students in grades 7–12 are presently taught with a principal focus on simple recognition and attaining sufficient literacy to read a newspaper. The South Korean Ministry of Education published the Basic Hanja for Educational Use in 1972, which specified 1800 characters meant to be learned by secondary school students. In 1991, the Supreme Court of Korea published the Table of Hanja for Use in Personal Names (인명용한자; Inmyeong-yong hanja), which initially included 2854 characters. The list has been expanded several times since; as of 2022, it includes 8319 characters.