Start with Google Fonts: when I checked, 38 of its 1,959 families included Korean, all flagged open source, with Noto Sans KR and Nanum Gothic the safest picks for body text and Dokdo the most popular display style. 1001 Fonts lists 76 Korean fonts and FontSpace 102, but every font on FontSpace's first Korean page was labelled Personal Use Free.
Google Fonts has fewer Korean families than Japanese or Hebrew ones, which makes the choice easier in one way and harder in another. There are fewer families to wade through, but you have to be more careful about weights, file size and licence, because there's less to swap in if your first pick doesn't work.
38 Hangul families on Google Fonts
Google Fonts' public font list held 1,959 families when I checked on 30 October, and 38 of them include the Korean subset. By Google's categories, that's Sans Serif 14, Display 10, Serif 7 and Handwriting 7, with no monospace option. All 38 are flagged open source.
The small number hides a useful pattern: about two thirds of those families come in a single style. That's fine for a poster, but body text needs at least a regular and a bold, so the shortlist for documents and websites is shorter than 38.
Matching a Hangul family to the job
Here's how I'd sort the most popular Korean families by what they're for, using Google's category and the number of styles each one has:
| Font | Best use | Category | Styles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noto Sans KR | Body text, websites, long documents | Sans Serif | 9 |
| Gothic A1 | Body text that needs many weights | Sans Serif | 9 |
| IBM Plex Sans KR | Reports and interfaces | Sans Serif | 7 |
| Nanum Gothic | Everyday body text | Sans Serif | 3 |
| Noto Serif KR | Formal documents and print | Serif | 8 |
| Hahmlet | Serif headings and editorial layouts | Serif | 9 |
| Nanum Myeongjo | Print and invitations | Serif | 3 |
| Dokdo | Posters and short headlines | Display | 1 |
| Jua | Friendly headings | Sans Serif | 1 |
| Nanum Pen Script | Handwritten notes and social graphics | Handwriting | 1 |
Dokdo, by FONTRIX, was the most popular Korean family when I checked, ranked 8th across the whole library. Noto Sans KR ranked 18th and Nanum Gothic 28th. Gothic A1 by HanYang I&C Co is the quiet one to know about: 9 styles, so it can carry a whole document on its own.
The Nanum family from Sandoll Communication
Five of the 14 most popular Korean families on Google Fonts come from one source, Sandoll Communication: Nanum Gothic, Nanum Myeongjo, Nanum Gothic Coding, Nanum Pen Script and Nanum Brush Script. All five were added on the same day in February 2018, and together they give you a matching sans, serif and two handwriting styles.
One oddity: Google files Nanum Gothic Coding under Handwriting, even though its name points to code. If you're filtering by category and can't find it, search by name instead.
Licence labels on FontSpace and 1001 Fonts
FontSpace's Korean category had 102 results when I checked, and every one of the 15 fonts on its first page was labelled Personal Use Free. Many come from a few designers, such as TypeClassHeroes, madeDeduk and Funtype Co., with names like Bamseok Korea Font and Daehyonse Korea Font. Download counts were modest, mostly in the hundreds.
Two of those fonts, Zhabuki and SD Asian, also appear on the first page of FontSpace's Japanese category, and the related style tags include Faux Korean and Foreign Look next to Hangul and Hangeul. That tells you the category is about a look as much as a script, so check each font's character set before you rely on it. 1001 Fonts lists 76 fonts in its Korean category, with the licence shown on each font's own page.
Hangul fonts and page speed
Korean fonts are big files. The size figure in Google's metadata for Noto Sans KR is more than a hundred times that of a typical Latin-only family, and Noto Serif KR's is bigger again. Only four Korean families, Noto Sans KR, Noto Serif KR, Hahmlet and Asta Sans, are variable fonts that cover their weight range in one file.
The OFL FAQ helps on the practical side. If you bundle an OFL font in a mobile app, you only need to include the fonts you use, with their copyright and licence, not the whole package; it gives the example of shipping just the regular weight. And trimming unused glyphs from a webfont counts as modification, which the licence allows.
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Choosing a Hangul font in five steps
- Decide what the font has to do: body text, headings or a one-off graphic.
- For body text, shortlist families with several styles, such as Noto Sans KR, Gothic A1 or IBM Plex Sans KR.
- Type a full sentence of Hangul in the preview and check it at the size you'll use.
- Check the licence: open source on Google Fonts, or the label on each FontSpace or 1001 Fonts page.
- For a website or app, include only the weights you use to keep the files small.
If you're translating an English design with Canva Translate, swap the font for one of these afterwards, because a Latin font won't carry Hangul.
What you can do with an open font
For families under the SIL Open Font License, its FAQ covers the uses most businesses need. Embedding an OFL font in a document doesn't change the document's own licence, and artwork you make with the font isn't subject to the OFL. You can bundle the font with software, even software you sell, as long as the font isn't sold on its own. And AI design tools can use OFL fonts to produce graphics, as long as the result isn't itself a font.
For other scripts with a small free pool, the same checks apply to Arabic fonts, and for a handwritten look in English, see handwriting fonts.
My advice
I'd use Noto Sans KR for anything people read at length, because it has 9 styles and pairs with Noto Serif KR. I'd pick Nanum Gothic and Nanum Myeongjo if you want a lighter, matching pair from one designer. Use Dokdo or Jua for headlines only. Skip FontSpace for client or product work unless you're ready to buy a licence, because its first page was Personal Use Free from top to bottom.
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I download free Korean fonts?
Google Fonts had 38 families with Korean when checked, all flagged open source, including Noto Sans KR, Nanum Gothic and Dokdo. 1001 Fonts lists 76 Korean fonts and FontSpace 102, with licences that vary per font.
What is the most popular Korean font on Google Fonts?
Dokdo by FONTRIX ranked 8th among all 1,959 families when checked, followed by Noto Sans KR at 18th and Nanum Gothic at 28th.
Which free Korean font is best for body text?
A family with several styles, such as Noto Sans KR or Gothic A1, both with 9 styles. About two thirds of Google's Korean families come in a single style.
Are FontSpace Korean fonts free for commercial use?
Not the ones checked. Every font on the first page of FontSpace's Korean category was labelled Personal Use Free, so read each font's licence before commercial use.
Why are Korean web fonts so large?
Noto Sans KR's size figure in Google's metadata is more than a hundred times that of a typical Latin family, so load only the weights you use.
