Since 1945, the proportion of literate adults in Korea has risen dramatically. One of the factors that has facilitated this rise is the current use of the "Hangul" alphabetic script, which is very consistent in its representation of sounds. Although the "Hangul" script was invented in 1443, it was not accepted officially in Korea until 1894; then, during the Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, Koreans were not permitted to teach or to use Korean or the "Hangul" script in the schools. Therefore, it was not until the Japanese rule ended in 1945 that the use of the "Hangul" script was instituted in all the schools and that the majority of Koreans was taught to read. However, the average level of students' reading comprehension is estimated to be rather low, and reading does not yet fully serve as an effective tool in students' lives. Since 1945, reading instruction has dealt with two areas: guidance in independent reading and reading comprehension. Reading is not taught as a separate course but as a tool for learning other subjects. Reading instruction in Korea should have its own identity in the educational curriculum. To achieve this, an interdisciplinary reading curriculum could be developed in which reading objectives are organized in an integrated form of spiral curriculum. (GW)