Hancom

Hancom, Inc. (called Haansoft Corporation in English until early 2010; Hangul: 한글과컴퓨터; RR: Hangeulgwa Keompyuteo; MR: Hangŭl-gwa K'ŏmp'yut'ŏ; literal translation: Hangul and Computer)

Hancom (KOSDAQ: HAANSOFT) is an office suite developer in Korea. Established in 1990, the company created the native word processor for the Korean language called Hangul.

The story of Hancom mirrors the fortunes of Korea’s reborn software industry through support from the government. In 1998, the company nearly went bust although it had been considered a national treasure: bad management, the Asian financial crisis and software piracy had brought the company to its knees. Microsoft, which had about 15% market penetration in office apps at the time in Korea, offered US$20 million to Hancom to stop producing Hangul and instead resell its localized Word program. For a small investment, Microsoft would have wiped out its main competitor completely in Korea, one of the few countries in the world that had still resisted wide adoption of its office suite.