Beginning with this first article by Stewart Steres, a Korea Stamp Society (KSS) Director, on the “Postage Stamps of Korean Folkways” booklet, the KSS is proud to showcase Stewart’s extensive collection of what he calls “South Korean Commemorative and Yearbook” booklets of South Korea over the coming issues of Korean Philately.
South Korea has a long history of issuing commemorative booklets, which have been given many names by collectors since the first official presentation (commemorative) booklet, with Korean stamps, was actually issued by Japan in 1905. These were given to high ranking officials celebrating the takeover of Korea’s postal system by the Japanese. Collectors have called these various names, such as “Souvenir Books”, “Presentation Albums” and “Commemorative Souvenir Books”. An introductory series on these early commemorative booklets of three parts was first published on the KSS website on February 4, 2020. The third part of the series briefly touched on the type of commemorative booklets that South Korea began to issue and in which Stewart specializes in collecting.
