Hanja - Korean Hanja: Gukja (국자, 國字)

Korean Hanja: Gukja (국자, 國字)

A small number of characters were invented by Koreans themselves. Most of them are for proper names (place-names and people's names) but some refer to Korean-specific concepts and materials. They include 畓 (논 답; non dap; "paddyfield"), 乭 (Dol, a character only used in given names), 㸴 (So, a rare surname from Seongju), and 怾 (Gi, an old name of the Kumgangsan).

Further examples include 媤 (시 si), 曺 (조 jo), 㕦/夻 (화 hwa), 巭 (부 bu), 頉 (탈 tal), 䭏 (편 pyeon), and 哛 (뿐 ppun).

Compare to the parallel development in Japan of kokuji (国字?), of which there are hundreds, many rarely used – these were often developed for native Japanese plants and animals.