Rather fortunately, as a native Korean who was taught Hanja in the end of last century.

“Unfortunately”.

As someone knee-deep in the process of learning the J in CJK, I have a perverse fondness for the 漢字, but that largely must be Stockholm syndrome.

I believe most Koreans would argue it’s fortunately. Hanja is no longer needed.

Interesting. I'm curious why you think it's unfortunate... mind-expansion?

Some elderly arch-conservatives bemoan the decline of Hanja use in Korean society. I’m sure many academics also feel the same. I see this sort of similar as some conservative Catholics bemoaning not doing Latin Mass.

One reason I’ve heard is that many Korean words (same for Japanese) have roots in Chinese and not knowing the Hanja representation means you lose some of that connection.

Whether that connection is really worth anything of practical value, is a matter of debate. I lean towards…no.

I don't think that's a great analogy. Maybe if Latin was used in all spheres of life into the early 20th century

I'd buy the analogy if they forced people to learn classical chinese

Imagine if you couldn't read things produced by your culture from before the 60s or so. But I get why it's not popular. It's a lot of work

This is a good point, but my understanding is that a lot of it is translated to full Hangul. So unless you’re searching for some obscure piece of literature, or specifically want to own and read original editions, I don’t think you’re at a total loss.