Printing the surcharges on first military government issue for Korea 1945/46 (Scott’s #55-60)

One of the first branches of the old Japanese Government activities taken over by the forces of the U. S. Military Government in Korea (USAFIK) after the occupation was the Communications Department which controlled the services of the post office, telegraph system, and radio stations. At the beginning the Postal Section had no alternative but […]

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Another Chollima Stamp Was Just “Under our Noses”

Collectors of North Korea (DPKR) should have noticed that there is another Chollima stamp that was issued for the 2020 New Year (Stamp KSC5232, 10 won, “Under the uplifted banner of self-reliance”). It was already shown in the article issued on the KSS website on January 1, 2020. It was issued with both perforated and […]

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Stop the Presses! A New Cover with Hall’s Korea 1940 Unissued Seal has been discovered

This author has been very fortunate to have discovered a new cover with Dr. Sherwood Hall’s Korea 1940 unissued Tuberculosis/Christmas and New Year Seal. It had been listed on eBay and I was very lucky to obtain it by auction. The last update on this 1940 Korea seal was discussed in the article on the […]

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Russian Fieldpost in North Korea, 1950?

Outside the USSR, after 1946 field post correspondence was only used by Soviet troops in occupied territories (e.g., Korea, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, etc.). Registered letters sent through field post offices after 1946 are extremely rare and normally have NO censor mark. Moreover, no international letters sent with Field Post cancellations from the Russian army […]

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Are these stamps the unlisted series KSC5170-KSC5173?

One of our readers, Jordan, sent scans of four complete sheets of North Korean stamps asking what we know about these particular stamps. The first thing to do when answering such questions is to look through either the “Korean Stamp Catalogue 1946-2015” (if the stamps were issued before December 2015) or on the Korea Stamp […]

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KSC5338-5339: 60th Anniv. of Pukchong Enlarged Meeting of the Presidium of the WPK Central Committee

(News from 조선우표사 / Korea Stamp Corporation) On 7 April 2021 the Korea Stamp Corporation issued a set of a stamp and a souvenir sheet commemorating the “60th Anniv. of Pukchong Enlarged Meeting of the Presidium of the WPK Central Committee”. The text the KSC released for this issue states: “Pukchong Enlarged Meeting of the […]

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Book with Korean philatelic references “Buddhism on stamps” published

In early January 2021 the book “Buddhism on Stamps” was released by the Indian philatelist Mr. Lokeswara Rao (retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Nagaland, India). He spared no efforts in creating his book, as not only does the book come with an introduction by the current Chief Postmaster General, the book also contains […]

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KPC3492-3501: Folding Screen with Birds, Flowers and Animals

(News from 우정사업본부 / KoreaPost) On 4 April 2021 KoreaPost issued a set of stamps showing parts of a large classical Korean folding screen, with the individual images of the screen used for the designs of individual stamps. The whole series was also issued in a souvenir sheet, which shows the whole screen.

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A closer look at real and fake North Korean philatelic items (Part I)

Most stamp dealers have a specialization, some field of (philatelic) interest which make them stand apart from other dealers. But there are few stamp dealers like Willem van der Bijl, whose small shop in the historic city center of Utrecht in the Netherlands belies the importance of his collection of North Korean materials, both philatelic […]

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