Korean input on Kubuntu 20.04
Tags: linux, ubuntu, kubuntu, korean
Published: 2020-06-19 13:25:19

---
title: Korean input on Kubuntu 20.04
published: true
date: 2020-06-18 00:00:00 UTC
tags: linux, ubuntu, kubuntu, korean
canonical_url: https://sung.codes/blog/2020/06/18/korean-input-on-kubuntu-20-04/
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/2lx4hzodyaaw3fgs5ntp.jpg
---

Installed [Kubuntu 20.04 LTS](https://kubuntu.org/) (KDE version of Ubuntu) on my old laptop.

Had a bit of trouble setting up Korean input so decided to share here.

I will use KDE GUI for the majority of the tasks here.

## Table of Contents
1. Install Korean
2. Install [ibus-hangul](https://github.com/libhangul/ibus-hangul)
3. Configure ibus
4. Autostart ibus-daemon
5. Trying out Korean input

## 1. Install Korean

1. Go to Application Launcher, and search & select "Language"
  ![1.1](https://sung.codes/static/e9f1f2cf32afb7b0f1072255c9f5b903/0f42c/1.1.jpg "1.1")
2. Click on "Add languages..." button
3. Select Korean (한국어) & click on "Add" button
  ![1.2-3](https://sung.codes/static/93656e54e9d1d74b3c0fdf130dfa0aa9/0c957/1.2-3.jpg "1.2-3")

Now Korean is available in your system so let's move on and install `ibus-hangul`, which supports Korean input.

## 2. Install ibus-hangul

Quick and easy way is to install `ibus-hangul` is via `apt` command,

```bash
sudo apt install ibus-hangul
```

Let's now configure `ibus` to work with Korean next.

## 3. Configure ibus
1. Go to Application Launcher, and search & select "Ibus Preferences" 
  ![3.1](https://sung.codes/static/5d5e6ea1e0fab5a7f9868dc3485c610e/a7622/3.1.jpg "3.1")
  - You will see that the default "Next input method" is `<Super>space`
  ![5.1](https://sung.codes/static/3d79b4ddbf9296780429d377e861b7e3/84187/5.1.jpg "5.1")
  - `<Super>` is the "Windows" key on your keyboard
  - So you can press `Windows + space` to switch between English & Korean
2. Go to "Input Method" tab, and click on "Add" button
3. Find and select Korean (한국어) and click on "Add" button, and close the preferences dialog
  ![3.2](https://sung.codes/static/4e423d1a7403abbe557a5ed70d4007dd/3b44a/3.2.jpg "3.2")

You might get prompted to start `ibus-daemon` when you opened "Ibus Preferences".  
It's a one-off execution, so when you restart your machine, you'd need to start the `ibus-daemon` manually.

As it's a pain, let's autostart the daemon on log on.

## 4. Autostart ibus-daemon

1. Go to Application Launcher, and search & select "Autostart"
  ![4.1](https://sung.codes/static/ea44502dd14bbb0372db65c9cbe50838/0f42c/4.1.jpg "4.1")
2. Click on "Add Program" button and then "Open file dialog" button
  ![4.2](https://sung.codes/static/95f5147c7094694678c0963ab621d96a/c3d96/4.2.jpg "4.2")
3. In the "Name" field, add `/usr/bin/ibus-daemon` & click "Open" button
  ![4.3](https://sung.codes/static/fbc0a72a25da3590493c59c8d0ebc03e/5421d/4.3.jpg "4.3")
4. Click "OK" to close "Choose Application" dialog, which then opens "Properties for ibus-daemon-desktop" dialog, automatically
  ![4.4](https://sung.codes/static/2de69b35518908f55f3edf33e8f3b382/41d60/4.4.jpg "4.4")
5. Go to "Application" tab and add `-d` in the "Command" to start the daemon in the background.
  - "Command" field should be `/usr/bin/ibus-daemon -d`
  ![4.5.1](https://sung.codes/static/fb3349d65a91e321bb609e212a8d7c01/5683b/4.5.1.jpg "4.5.1")
  - You will now see the command under "Desktop File"
  ![4.5.2](https://sung.codes/static/5f1a47cebc1b8dd98f75a6841e9f5802/89c80/4.5.2.jpg "4.5.2")
6. Save and close with "OK" button


⚠ At this point you need to restart your machine.

## 5. Trying out Korean input

After you restarting the machine, open up a browser and press `<Super>space` to change the language to Korean.

![5.2](https://sung.codes/static/73b7e2b30b0852b169cf1743060e0441/572dc/5.2.jpg "5.2")

At this point, we haven't set the default language for Korean input to be Korean. You can start using Korean after pressing `shift + space`.  
You can change the default keyboard binding in the preferences screen.

![5.3](https://sung.codes/static/a3dd16d10977eb9ab6f7c819af3c6f9f/212f3/5.3.jpg "5.3")
![5.4](https://sung.codes/static/27016c48466c928e099d021553fafb8b/9eaf8/5.4.jpg "5.4")

You should now be able to type in Korean (I am using VS Code below)
![5.5](https://sung.codes/static/d63a2c10aafe8f36470aefb46ae49f0b/ccc82/5.5.jpg "5.5")

* * *

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