Chinese-language literature of Korea  Chinese-language literature in Korea (Korean "hanmunhak") is literature written the Chinese language in Korea, which represents an early phase of Korean literature and influenced literature in the Korean language. The role of the Classical Chinese Han language or "Hanmun" language in Korea was akin to the same role in Japan of Chinese Kanbun and in Vietnam of Chinese Hán văn; a role which is broadly comparable to that of the Latin language in Europe. During this period the use of written Chinese language did not indicate that Korean literati were fluent in spoken Chinese. The role of Chinese language was so dominant that the history of Korean literature and Chinese language are almost contiguous till the 20th Century. Korean works in Chinese are typically rendered in English according to modern Korean hangul pronunciations:  It is disputed whether Chinese or Korean was the original language of some works: