Sunday, July 27, 2014

Hong Yong-Sik (홍영식)

Hong Yong-Sik, the postmaster general, took the lead in modernizing the postal system. Thanks to the efforts of the enlightenment group Ujongsa, the public department responsible for postal service, was set up in 1882 and Woo-jong-chong-guk (우정총국), or the countryˊs Post Office, was established in 1884 to supervise and control the new postal system. On October 1 in lunar calendar the same year (November 18 in solar calendar) Munwi stamps (mun was the then monetary unit) were issued for the first time in the country, signalling the start of the modern postal service.


The Korean Postal Bureau (Woo-jong-chong-guk, 우정총국), which started the nation’s first modern postal service in 1884, is located in Gyeonji-dong, Jung-gu, central Seoul. 


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