Ancient Korean had several Chinese characters, and the script was called the Hanja. Hanja's assumed association with aristocracy made it prevalent even after the invention of an absolute new script called the Hangul. But with time, Hangul has now replaced Hanja. Korean as we know it now has Hangul as its script. Hangul was invented in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great. He aimed to create a minimalist, smart language that could be understood by the masses, since people not belonging to noble families could not read the Hanja. Invention of the Hangul led to a high increase in the literacy rate, and also increased the Korean people's political awareness.
While learning a language, especially one like Korean where the script is so systematic, I end up memorizing vocabulary and writing styles in a very (for lack of a better word) mathematical way. For me, Hangul was more a puzzle and equation to solve, until I began studying its culture and history. Studying the history of a language indirectly connects you to the native speakers and their experiences with their language. Learning how a language came about helps you better understand your own growth with the language. And history also provides an emotional aspect to language learning and prevents it from becoming an analytic exercise rather than a culturally immersing and growing experience.
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