Hangul syllable Duc

It is a written syllable; the surrounding Korean word gives context.

On a Korean input method, ㄷ + ㅜ + ㅊ combine as starting consonant, vowel and ending consonant. Unicode forms “DUC” from short names for those letters. Fonts can arrange the parts differently inside the square block.

Hangul made Korean easier to write than older systems that adapted Chinese characters for Korean, including Idu, Gugyeol and Hyangchal. It served religious, practical, educational and literary writing. It became official in government documents in 1894; under Japanese rule after 1910, it became tied to Korean language and identity.