KPC3460-3461: 100th Anniversary of the Death of Martyr Yu Gwansun

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(News from 우정사업본부 / KoreaPost) On 28 September 2020 KoreaPost issued two stamps (with accompanying sheets) commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of “Martyr Yu Gwansun”. According to her Wikipedia lemma, Yu Gwansun (Ryu Gwansun) was an organizer in what would come to be known as the March 1st Movement against Imperial Japanese colonial rule of Korea in South Chungcheong. The March 1st Movement was considered a peaceful demonstration by the Korean people against Japanese rule. Ryu Gwan-sun became one of the most well-known participants in this movement, and eventually, a symbol of Korea’s fight for independence.

KoreaPost released the stamps in a commemorative (souvenir) stamp sheet of 16 (4×4) stamps of 380 won (KPC3460) each and one minisheet with one stamp of 2480 won (KPC3461), printed by Southern Colour Print resp. Cartor for POSA:

Souvenir sheet for stamp KPC3460
Souvenir sheet for stamp KPC3461

Stamps

The details of the stamps as listed at the time of this publication:

유관순 열사 순국 100주년(전지)

우표번호3460
종수1
발행량672,000
디자인유관순 열사
인쇄 및 색수평판 / 4도
전지구성4 × 4
디자이너정은영
발행일2020. 9. 28.
액면가격380원
우표크기30 × 40
인면26 × 38
천공13⅓×13⅓
용지평판원지
인쇄처POSA(Southern Colour Print)

 

유관순 열사 순국 100주년(시트)

우표번호3461
종수1
발행량110,000
디자인유관순 열사
인쇄 및 색수평판 / 4도
전지구성1 × 1
디자이너정은영
발행일2020. 9. 28.
액면가격2,480원
우표크기30 × 40
인면30 × 40
천공13¼ x 13
용지Silk-Gummed paper
인쇄처POSA(Cartor)

KoreaPost also released this information for this issue:

Yu Gwansun, the symbol of the March 1st Movement and a permanent figure of the national spirit of Korea, was arrested while shouting for the independence of the nation, tortured ruthlessly, and eventually passed away in 1920. In memory of the 100th anniversary of the death of Yu Gwansun, whose life ended in prison at the fine age of nineteen, Korea Post is issuing the commemorative stamp 100th Anniversary of the Death of Patriotic Martyr Yu Gwansun.

Born on December 16, 1902 in the small village of Jiryeong-ri, Idong-myeon, Mokcheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do (presently Byeongcheon-myeon, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do), Yu Gwansun was a girl with a spirited personality and sharp memory, as she could instantly memorize Bible verses upon hearing them. She was taught Confucian ways and filial piety from a young age, and the national spirit in her grew as she learned about new cultures based on Christianity. In 1910 when Yu Gwansun turned eight years old, Korea was disgracefully extorted of its national rights as the nation was colonized by the Japanese Empire. Alice Sharp, a missionary with strong conviction and ambition for female education, took notice of the bright Yu Gwansun. Yu Gwansun then enrolled at Ewha Hakdang (predecessor of Ewha Girls’ High School and Ewha Womans University) under a scholarship in 1915, where she was taught new ideas as her devotion to the nation grew stronger.

The death of Gojong (Emperor Gwangmu) on January 22, 1919 brought heavy grief on the people, and the thirty-three national representatives took this event as a golden opportunity for an independence movement. On March 1, before the funeral procession, the March 1st Movement was started with the announcement of the Korean Declaration of Independence by the thirty-three national representatives, and the unified voice of 20 million people resounded in and out of the country, wherever Korean compatriots were found. Yu Gwansun, who was then studying high school courses at Ewha Hakdang, formed the “five-person pact” with Kim Bok-sun, Guk Hyun-sook, Seo Myung-hak and Kim Hui-ja, and participated in the March 1st Independence Movement. Yu Gwansun then went to her hometown to avoid surveillance by the Japanese Empire, and she was arrested on April 1, 1919 on the charge of stirring up the independence movement at an Aunae marketplace in Byeongcheon and was sentenced to three years in prison. While imprisoned, she continued to encourage her colleagues even as she was severely flogged and tortured for shouting for the independence of her country. As a result of the torturing, Yu Gwansun died fighting for her country at Seodaemun Prison on September 28 of the following year.

Yu Gwansun, who shouted “Long live Korean independence” while unarmed and with a Korean flag in her hand before Japanese soldiers who were armed with guns and swords, continues to inspire us today after one hundred years of her death. On the commemorative stamp is the words of the young Yu Gwansun who cried out to the Japanese military policemen during the movement for independence. We hope that the commemorative stamp helps everyone remember Yu Gwansun who left behind her unyielding courage.

The ePost website showed these FDCs for this issue:

All relevant text and images in page copyright: 우정사업본부 / KoreaPost

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Ivo Spanjersberg
Currently KSS Publisher/Webmaster, previously KSS Chairman (2018-2019). Living in Amsterdam. I collect Korean revenue stamps, see my website:
http://www.spanjersberg.net

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