“Gwendoline” is an external postmark used by the Eunsan Postal Matter Receiving Office in South Pyongan Province during the late Joseon/Great Korean Empire period (Guhanguk). It is well known as the longest English-language external postmark place name and the only external postmark struck in blue. It is also widely known that “Gwendoline” is a phonetic borrowing of goindol (“dolmen”). This manuscript, however, is a two‑part study (Part 1 & Part 2) that for the first time traces, domestically and internationally, the original source of the toponym “Gwendoline” as used by the Eunsan Receiving Office. In modern Korean orthography the word would be spelled “Gwendeollin,” but in this manuscript I retain “Gwendoline,” the form long used in the philatelic community.
5. Tracing how Eunsan came to be called “Gwendoline”
The notice from Japan’s Ministry of Communications (Telecommunications) No. 317, introduced by Jin Gi‑hong, is decisive proof that “Gwendoline” refers to “Eunsan,” leaving no further room to debate the area to which “Gwendoline” applies. Even so, a regret remains: although the date of that notice is June 22, 1904 (Foreign Telegram Tariff; effective July 1, 1904), the Eunsan Telegraph Office opened on June 25, 1900. One cannot help but wonder where and from when “Gwendoline” was first used.
