OUR STORY
The History of 
( 01 )
A drop that reached even royal tables
( 02 )
A 129-year record that began in Seoul
( 03 )
Independence fighters at the threshold of an era
( 04 )
The water of life, kept in the record
( 05 )
Long-held trust, proven in numbers
( 06 )
An after-meal habit, 9.3 billion times over
( 07 )
The after-meal code, spreading to the world
( 08 )
A drop that completes a precious meal
( 09 )
The wisdom of digestion, found in nature
A digestive even kings drank
In 1897, when Emperor Gojong ascended the throne of the Korean Empire, court official Min Byeong-ho developed Whalmyungsu — Korea's first modern medicine — by combining traditional herbal remedies once reserved for the royal court with Western medicine, so that everyone could benefit from it.
살릴활
목숨명
물수
In an age when sudden indigestion could cost a life, the search for Whalmyungsu never ceased in markets and town squares across the land. A single bottle cost as much as a sack of rice, yet families spared nothing for it. People called it the water that saves life.생명을 살리는 물
Original Label
The moment the name
grew stronger
01
Donghwa Pharmacy's Whalmyungaek registration
As imitations kept appearing, Donghwa Pharmacy registered “Whalmyungaek” as a defensive trademark in 1919 — a record of brand protection begun a step ahead to safeguard the name and trust of Whalmyungsu.
02
Early Whalmyungsu label
The early Whalmyungsu label carried its Chinese-character typesetting, the fan mark, and product details on a single sheet — conveying not just efficacy but Whalmyungsu's identity and trust.
03
Whalmyungsu Q label
Born in 1967 with the refreshing lift of carbonation, Whalmyungsu evolved into a clearer, more popular form in step with the changing times.
04
Today's Whalmyungsu label
Traditional Chinese-character notation and the fan mark are captured within a modern form — showing the present of Whalmyungsu, which has evolved with the times since 1897.
Pioneers
OLDEST TO
Born in 1897 to save the people, Whalmyungsu has carried a new mission through every era: from Min Byeong-ho's invention, to Min Kang's funding of the independence movement, to Yun Chang-sik's philosophy of "never make a medicine unless it is good," to the birth of Gas Whalmyungsu in 1967. A brand that began as a life-saving medicine and evolved with the times. Even today, through relentless research and advanced production, it lives on as a safer, more trustworthy product.
independence
The spirit of independence held in
( 01 )
Independence funds raised through Whalmyungsu, sent to the Provisional Government
Min Kang, a manager and an independence fighter
Under Japanese rule, the secret Seoul Yeontongbu, a clandestine agency linking inside and outside the country, was set up at Donghwa Pharmacy's Sunhwa-dong headquarters, where part of Whalmyungsu's sales funded the independence movement and reached the Provisional Government.
( 02 )
Seoul Yeontongbu: the will for independence carried on through Whalmyungsu
The site of Seoul Yeondongbu
To commemorate this, in 1995 the city of Seoul erected a Yeontongbu memorial on the site of Donghwa Pharmacy, marking it as a company with deep roots in the independence movement. A bottle of medicine was one person's conscience, and one era's courage.
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