koreanlit1-3, Exercise 3: Hunminjeongeum and the first work in Hangul

Model answer:

The document: Hunminjeongeum ("The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People"), an 1446 work that formally introduced the first Korean alphabet; the alphabet was originally called by the same name and is now called Hangul. The term may mean the base text (the preface and letter descriptions, Yeui) or that plus the commentary Haerye.
Credited: King Sejong the Great (reigned 1418 to 1450), author of the base text and significantly involved in creating the script; the Haerye was written by scholars led by Chong Inji.
Reason: "The sounds of our country's language are different from those of the Middle Kingdom"; many ordinary people could not express what they wanted to say; Sejong designed 28 letters that could be learned easily.
Uncertain: the exact publication date (the base text claims the 9th month of 1446; 9 October as Hangul Day assumes the 10th day); records of early development are sparse; whether the Eonhae edition first appeared in Worin sokpo (1459).
First major work in Hangul: Yongbi eocheonga (1447), 125 cantos, a dynastic poem by Chong Inji, An Chi and Kwon Chae.

Left open: who learned the script, how fast it spread, and whether women and commoners wrote in it. The articles read do not say.

Sources: Wikipedia, Hunminjeongeum; Yongbi eocheonga.