This paper examines aspects of the acceptance and identity of Hanja (Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation) in the Korean society, and analyzes the literal and social mechanism employed for continued acceptance by the Korean public. The analysis illuminates insight into the social status and recognition of Hanja in the Korean society. In the ancient Korean society, Hanja was identified as a textual existence dominating the thoughts of the intellectuals and reproducing knowledge. Though its stature and status of the past are no longer present, Hanja still retains a remnant of their past stature in the contemporary Korean culture. In Korea’s popular culture, Hanja is used in various kinds of notices, signs, trademarks, and advertisements. In the consumer market, in particular, Hanja represents the Oriental sentiments and beauty and traditional authority, surpassing the realm of the text beyond borders of the elegant (􆘆) or the folksy (􁼘) to the level of an iconic entity of knowledge, whose symbolic images are used as marketing strategies in the consumer market.

• Eunhee KIM