KPSC 2019 Edition: a member’s experience

Catalogues and books

For those collectors that wish to have a Korean postage stamp catalogue I can highly recommend the latest 2019 edition of the Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue. It is easy to find the ordering information in English using the eBay search engine and entering “Korean Stamp Catalogue”. I placed an order on July 2 and the catalogue arrived in excellent condition from South Korea on July 22. The cost of the catalogue including shipping was $35 and was paid for by credit card. 

The catalogue is published entirely in Korean other than a brief title and date of issue for each stamp. Each stamp has a Korean Philatelic Center catalogue number. The catalogue seems to be very accurate and complete. It is published on high-quality paper with very good illustrations of each issue and contains all issues through May 2018. All pricing information is in won.

I am not a professional collector of Korean stamps so this catalogue works well for my purposes. I collect mint singles and souvenir sheets from about 1960 onward and have used the Korean Post Office subscription service since it was established in about 1983. The invoices show account number 20.

Maynard still has the original invoices, starting with this one dated January 1984.

One of the reasons for using the catalogue is to make sure that all issues from the Korean Philatelic Center have been received. For some reason there have been a few instances where a stamp is not included in the subscription service package. The latest issues are sent out about twice a year and have always arrived in very good condition. Every few years I send the Korean Philatelic Center a check to cover the cost of all new issues including shipping. As far as I know this is the only way that the KPC will handle payment for the subscription service.

The invoice for each shipment includes an account summary showing the cost of the issues, postage charges and the remaining account balance in Won. A second page shows the Korean stamp number, title, unit price, quantity and total cost. Attempts to communicate using email require patience unless one is fluent in Korean.

Front of stamp information sheet.

Along with each issue a fact sheet is included in English that contains all the technical specifications of the stamp along with a narrative about the issue. The bottom line is that the KPC subscription service is a very easy and cost effective way to keep a collection current. The contact information on the latest shipment invoice is shown below.

Back of stamp information sheet.

Address information for the Korean philatelic center:

The Philatelic Agency
Seoul Central Post Office
Seoul 04535, Republic of Korea
Email: phila@phila.or.kr

[Editor] Alternatively one can also visit the English pages on the website of the philatelic center.

With the subscription also came the Korean Stamp Review. Here is an example from 1989.
Catalogue ordering
Please note that the Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue is available from several sources, see the introduction/review of the 2019 catalogue on the KSS website for more information. The KSS is not affiliated with any particular seller/publisher.
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