Some anniversaries are advertised wider than other anniversaries

October 2021 marked 70 years of the Korea Stamp Society! Really, it did. But did you know about it? Probably not, if only for the simple reason that until then nobody had advertised this fact. (We did in Korean Philately, have a look at the Q4 2021 edition!) Here are two other anniversaries related to […]

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Buyer Beware… Again! Korea First Issue Essay

I spotted this on an archived Delcampe sold file of a highly-questionable Dealer located in France. In my fifty-five-plus years collecting, researching and specializing in Empire Korea material I have never seen, or heard, of this item. This sold for 300 Euros. Apparently, it is the same item that was discussed in this article on […]

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Stamp essay of 1884 5 mun stamp in Spink auction: do we know more about this item?

In Spink’s auction of 12 January 2020 a rather strange item showed up. No, the type of item is not strange, stamp essays are quite commonly available. Actually, one might even say some essays are too common, just have a look at Willem van der Bijl’s article on the subject of North Korean “artworks” in […]

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The one thing they agree upon: “Dokdo is ours”!

Despite being mortal enemies, North and South Korea agree on thing: Dokdo, the group of rocks in the middle of the “Sea of Japan” or “East Sea” is Korean and not Japanese. The international name for Dokdo is officially “Liancourt Rocks”, a name often found on maps to avoid offending either Korea or Japan, but […]

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Reader’s Question: How much to send an envelope from North Korea to the USA in 1978?

Marci Jarvis, editor of Cat Mews (which is the magazine of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit) has a question with regards to the postage on this envelope. The Korean Stamp Corporation (KSC) sent it to the then editor of Topical Time, Jerry Husak, the founder of the American Topical Association. On it are a […]

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Reader’s Question: Why these strange North Korean stamp issues?

Leafing through the catalog of DPRK stamps and analyzing the policy of themes and stories on the stamps, I had several questions. Perhaps you, or other KSS members, can help me with the answer. Starting in 1946 to issue postage stamps with neutral themes (Rosa of Sharon, Diamond Mountains), the postal administration expanded the themes […]

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Readers Question: Chōsen Sotokufu Teishin Kyoku Card?

My question concerns a card that was issued by Chōsen Sotokufu Teishin Kyoku and features a picture of chickens with an inscription in Korean. It appears that the design could have been issued as a New Year greeting. The Teishin Kyoku issued a set of post cards on October 1, 1910 commemorating the opening of […]

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Soviet Bloc Charity Seals for North Korea—what are they?

Recently I was looking for Korean Relief philatelic related material, the type of which I have written about in past articles for the Korea Stamp Society’s website and Korean Philatelic magazine. While doing this, I found a couple of sets of seals from Hungary offered by a Hungarian stamp dealer on Delcampe that appear to […]

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Korean Philately Magazine – Blurb and how to Order Hard Copies

We have received several questions lately from members on how to order the hard copies of the Korean Philately (KP) magazines. It is currently explained on the website on how to order through Blurb, but we thought it would be good idea to do a refresher article on how the new KP’s came to be […]

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First Korean photo gravure stamp issued (1969)

On May 1, 1969 the Republic of Korea released its first postage stamp produced by means of newly installed photogravure printing equipment. The 7W blue regular stamp features the flag of Korea. The photogravure production represents a distinct advance over the lithographed stamps which have been produced by the Korean Government Printing Agency since the […]

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Reader’s question: Why are local 1930s revenue stamps never offered “used on document”?

Since first seeing a South Korean revenue stamp in 2010 (when I needed one for a visa document while already in Korea) I have been collecting information about Korean revenue stamps. What is noticeable in my database of 6000+ notes on Korean revenue stamps that some stamps are very easy to collect “used on document” […]

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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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