The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul in South Korea (also transcribed Hangeul) and as Chosŏn'gŭl/Chosŏn Muntcha in North Korea and China, is the alphabet that has been used to write the Korean language since the 15th century. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443 by King Sejong the Great. Now, the alphabet is the official script of both South Korea and North Korea, and co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of China's Jilin Province. In South Korea, Hangul is used primarily to write the Korean language as using Hanja (Chinese characters) in typical Korean writing had fallen out of common usage during the late 1990s. Hanja is still used to some extent in art, academic and government documents, newspapers, and high level Korea