Oldest brand in Korea still soothes stomachs

The oldest brand in Korea is 112 years old, the same age as Asprin.

But Gas Whal Myung Su from Dong Wha Pharm is not just the oldest of its kind, but also the nation’s leading digestive aid with a market share of 50 percent.

What’s more, sales of the digestive drink still grow 10 percent every year. Since the product was first produced in 1897, it has sold 8 billion bottles. Whal Myung Su has the first registered trademarks in Korea, for its product and its logo of an open buchae fan.

The medicinal drink got its start when Min Byung-ho, head of the security team at the palace of King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty, learned the secret ingredients from palace doctors he had befriended.

Adding ingredients from the Western world, he unwittingly created a product that would last more than a century.

What was so innovative about the product was that it came in a bottle that was easy to carry around.

Back then Whal Myung Su was called “lifesaving water,” as it wasn’t unusual for people to die from severe stomach illnesses.

The story of Whal Myung Su will soon be published in a book written by Ye Jong-sun, a business professor at Hanyang University.

In 1910 a 60-milliliter bottle of Whal Myung Su was expensive at 50 jeon, the same price as two bowls of sugar and three cups of makgeolli wine. In the 1960s the digestive drink was used in boilermakers, a custom that spread like wildfire.

The creative minds behind the so called “Whal Myung Su cocktail” were the salesmen at Jinro, Korea’s leading distilled alcohol maker.

Whal Myung Su has survived several crises over the years, including the sudden appearance of its rival Gas Myung Su in 1965.

Samsung Pharm used carbonated drinks as a model for the new competitor, adding carbon dioxide bubbles.

In response Dong Wha also carbonated its products and introduced Gas Whal Myung Su.

Last year Whal Myung Su took in 40 billion won ($29 million) in revenue, or 22.8 percent of the company’s total sales.

By Choi Ji-young Staff Reporter[ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]