Hmm?  Modern Seoul dialect only has seven simple vowel sounds (ㅏ&#x2F;ㅓ&#x2F;ㅗ&#x2F;ㅜ&#x2F;ㅡ&#x2F;ㅣ&#x2F;(ㅐ=ㅔ)), not counting semivowel combinations.  Even the (largely unrealistic) &quot;standard pronunciation&quot; only has ten vowel sounds (ㅐ and ㅔ are considered different sounds, and ㅚ is considered a simple vowel instead of a diphthong).<p>So it actually has less vowels than English.<p>By the way, any scholar who still claims that modern &quot;standard&quot; Korean has vowel length distinction hasn&#x27;t been paying attention for the last 50 years or so.<p>cf. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;English_phonology#Vowels" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;English_phonology#Vowels</a>