Postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

are issued by the

Korea Stamp Corporation The Korea Stamp Corporation ( ko, 조선우표사) is the issuing authority of postage stamps in North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern h ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

issues copious amounts of stamps. Since the 1970s, the country has outproduced

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in terms of issuance. The stamps tend to portray patriotic and nationalist themes and are used as a form of propaganda, but some of them have little connection with the country. The country has been a member of the

Fédération Internationale de Philatélie The Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) was founded on 18 June 1926, and is the world federation for philately based in Zürich, Switzerland. Aims The primary aims of the FIP are: *To promote stamp collecting and philately. *To mai ...

since 15 June 1965. There is a museum, the

Korea Stamp Museum The Korea Stamp Museum ( ko, 조선우표박물관) is a postal museum in the Central District of Pyongyang, North Korea. History The Korea Stamp Museum opened on April 9, 2012 as part of the centennial celebration of the birth of Kim Il-sung a ...

, dedicated to philately in the country.

History

The first

stamps Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

were issued on 12 March 1946: ''Rose of Sharon'' and ''Samson Rock''. Stamps prior to 1974 dealt primarily with subjects relating specifically to North Korea, its foundation,

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

and other patriotic themes. After 1974, in a bid to bring more

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

into the country, North Korea began issuing stamps with wide-ranging themes (such as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

, airships, sports and wildlife) and using English descriptions. Wording on the stamps is mostly in Korean. The term "DPR Korea" is written in English.

References

Works cited

External links

Korea Stamp CorporationNorth Korean Stamp Collection
online at

University of Chicago Library University of Chicago Library is the library system of the University of Chicago, located on the university's campus in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the tenth largest academic library in North America, with over 11.9 million volumes as ...

Korean Stamp Society
{{Portal bar, Asia, North Korea, Philately Communications in North Korea Philately of Korea

History

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links