Along with these objects, the postal and telegraph service has received no little attention. Up to the year 1883 Korea was without telegraphic communication. At that time the Japanese laid a submarine cable from Nagasaki to the Korean port of Fusan with an intermediate station upon the island of Tsu-shima. A little later, in 1885, China, taking advantage of her suzerain rights, deputed Mr. J. H. Muhlensteth, a telegraph engineer who had been in her service many years and who formerly had been an employé of the Danish Telegraph System, to construct a land telegraph line from Chemulpo by way of Seoul and Pyöng-yang to Wi-ju on the Yalu River opposite the Chinese frontier post of An-tung, which had connection with the general system of Chinese telegraphs. This line toward the north-west was for many years the only means of telegraphic communication between the capital of Korea and the outside world. It was worked at the expense and under the control of the Chinese Government, and it was not until the time of the Chino-Japanese war, in the course of which the line was almost entirely destroyed, that it was reconstructed by the Korean Government.
In 1889 the Korean Government built a line from Seoul to Fusan. After the Chino-Japanese war, telegraphic communication was extended from Seoul to Won-san and Mok-po. During recent years continuous progress has been made until the total development in the interior has now reached 3500 kilometres, divided into twenty-seven bureaux and employing 113 men as directors, engineers, secretaries, and operators, with 303 as students. The Morse system is in use. The electricity is generated by the use of the Leclanché batteries. Telegrams may be sent either in the native Korean script, in Chinese, or in the code used by the Chinese administration, and in the different foreign languages authorised by the International Telegraph Agreement. Horse relays are kept at the different telegraph centres in the interior to facilitate communication with points far distant.
The subjoined table reveals by comparison the development in the Korean system of telegraphs which has taken place during recent years:
| 1899. | 1900. | 1901. | 1902. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telegrams | 112,450 | 125,410 | 152,485 | 209,418 |
| Revenue | $50,686.89 | $72,443.26 | $86,830.86 | $112,337.18 |
| Length of lines in li | 5000 | 5090 | 6510 | 7060 |
| Offices | 19 | 22 | 27 | 27 |
The establishment of the Imperial Postal System in Korea is comparatively recent. For many years, in fact for many centuries, Korea has possessed no postal service as we conceive of it. An official courier service was maintained by the King in order to carry on correspondence with the different provincial governors. These messengers travelled by horse relays, which were maintained at various points in the country. Private correspondence was carried on through the medium of travellers or pedlars, the sender having to arrange privately with the carrier in each instance. In 1877, Japan, who had entered the Postal Union and had concluded a treaty with Korea, established postal bureaux at Fusan, Won-san and Chemulpo for the needs of her nationals, who were already quite numerous in Korea. In 1882 the Customs Administration also established a sort of postal system between the different open ports and between Korea and China. But these organisations were limited to correspondence between open ports, and whoever wished to send a letter into the interior had to make private arrangements. In 1884 the Government of Korea made a first attempt to establish an official postal system which would be accessible to all.
It was not until 1895, however, after the close of the Chino-Japanese war, that the Korean Postal Service was at last established under the direction of a Japanese. For several years this service was confined to Korea herself, and did not undertake any foreign business. In 1897 the Korean Government determined to join the Postal Union, and to this end two representatives were sent to the Universal Postal Congress, held at Washington in May and June of that year. They signed the international agreement. Finally, in 1898, the Government secured the services of M. E. Clemencet, a member of the Postal and Telegraph Bureau of France, as adviser and instructor to the Postal Bureau, and on January 1, 1900, Korea entered the Postal Union.
The Service comprises, in addition to the central bureau at Seoul, thirty-seven postal stations, in full operation, and 326 sub-stations open to the exchange of ordinary or registered correspondence, whether domestic or foreign. Seven hundred and forty-seven letter boxes have been distributed throughout postal circuits in charge of these stations. Only the stations in full operation are carried on by agents or sub-agents under the control of the Director-General of Communications to the number of 756, of which 114 are agents and secretaries, and 642 are couriers, watchmen, &c. The management of secondary offices is in the hands of local country magistrates under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, and has no connection with the Department of Communications except in so far as the control and management of the postal system is directly affected. A network of land postal routes, starting out from Seoul along the seven main highways, is run daily in both directions by postal couriers. Each of the large country offices controls a courier service, which, in turn, connects with the smaller country offices. These secondary offices are served three times a week by unmounted postal couriers, who number in all 472 men. Each man carries on his back a maximum load of twenty kilogrammes. When the mail matter exceeds this limit extra men or pack horses are employed. The courier has to cover daily a minimum distance of forty kilometres. In central Korea and in the south and the north-west each route is covered, back and forth, in five days. In the north and north-east eight days are required for each round trip.
Besides these land courier services the Postal administration has employed, since Korea joined the Postal Union, various maritime services for forwarding mail matter to the different Korean ports and for the despatch of foreign mail. The different steamship companies which carry Korean mail are: The Nippon Yusen Kaisha, whose boats touch at Kobe, Nagasaki, Fusan, Mok-po (occasionally), Chemulpo, Chi-fu, Taku, Won-san and Vladivostock. The Osaka Chosen Kaisha boats, which touch at Fusan, Ma-san-po, Mok-po, Kun-san, Chemulpo and Chin-am-po. The last port is closed by ice from December to March. The Chinese Eastern Railway Company, whose boats ply between Vladivostock and Shanghai by way of Nagasaki, Chemulpo, Port Arthur, and Chi-fu, are also utilised.