Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Philatelic history of Korea
For anyone studying Korean postage stamps and postal stationery, understanding the structure of the Korean language and the Korean alphabet will enrich the understanding of any material which you have. The Korean language is highly structured and regular. Some sixty percent of its vocabulary derives from written Chinese (called in Korean Hanja 漢字).
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Some of the rarest examples of postal history of Empire Korea, combining the images of early 20th century Korea on hand-tinted postal cards and a cover demonstrating all the stamps available at the Chemulpo, Korea post office on a single day are that of a correspondence addressed to Mrs. Charlotte K. Ober, University of Washington, […]
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Held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, the 2018 Winter Olympics were a triumph for (South) Korea in two ways. Not only did it show a very modern and well-organized Korea, an image completely different from just one generation ago when Korea was still one of the poorest countries in the world, […]
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Back in April 2019 I received an inquiry of the German MICHEL-catalog editor. He related a reader’s question on probably different printings of 1964/66 ROK definitives (KPC #218/236), commonly known as the 1st granite paper series.
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Recently, in going over my Korean inflationary issues and presentation sheets, I was struck by a cancellation that is almost too perfect for a routine postal strike: neat, clean, sharp and almost printed-looking. Reviewing KOREAN PHILATELY, I found I am not alone in my suspicion – but its status is still indeterminate.
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The Gab-sin coup d’etat (甲申政變; 갑신정변) of 4 December 1884 (Lunar calendar 10. 17.), attempted by the reformers at the opening ceremony of the post office, failed. All main figures were killed including Mr. Young-Sik Hong whose constant efforts had led to the issuing of a Royal decree to establish the Department of Post Office […]
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The fifth stamp in this series is the 100 Mon. As with the 25 and 50 Mon stamps, this rose, white and blue stamp was never issued and therefore any stamp claiming to be postally used has a fake cancellation. The stamp is designated Scott #5 and Minkus #N5. The stamps were produced in 1884. […]
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In addition to the early editions souvenir books, different types of souvenir books were issued up until 1938 by the Japanese government and later by the South Korean government. Kerr has the only list of these souvenir books that is known in English and it goes through 1961. On Page 71-2 of his book, he […]
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Because of the extreme emphasis of Koreans on education there are, even today in times of digital communications, a lot of stationery shops in Korea. These shops sell hundreds and sometimes even thousands of different products, one of them being whole series of sticker stamps. These stickers look like stamps because of their “perforation” and […]
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Yes, Mr. Zip has come to Korea. After starting out in 1959 in Great Britain, according to an announcement of the Korean Philatelic Center, he began working in Korea on July 1, 1970. Postal reform has been recognized as a need by many countries, a reform which is concerned primarily with reducing costs and improving […]
Continue Reading The Scott catalogue states that most of the high value Scott numbers 52-54 reprints, the 50 ch, 1 won, and 2 won, with thin, semi-transparent paper, perforation 12 ½, that are in collectors’ collections and on the market today, come from the early souvenir books. Scott values 52-4 at $400, $600, and $875, respectively; but […]
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The fourth stamp in this series is the 50 Mon. As with the 25 Mon stamp, this green stamp was never issued and therefore any stamp claiming to be used has a fake cancellation. The stamp is designated Scott #4 and Minkus #N4. The stamps were produced in 1884. Black and white images are from […]
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It is interesting to study geography through postal history. Recently I acquired this postcard. I noticed it because the sender’s address was written as “KyongSong”, the old name of Seoul during the Japanese colonial era. So at the first glance it seems this was a card sent from the South to the North.
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In the summer of 1964 I received the following letter from a French gentleman: “Enclosed is $3000.00 plus in Korea No. l’s and 2’s in singles, pairs and combinations. All stamps are tied on piece and with the exception of one or two stamps the condition is very fine or superb. As I do not […]
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Fishing has long been important in the Korean and Japanese economies. While coastal fishing was the major source for marine foods in the past, beginning with the first “Five Year Plan” in 1962 Korea has increased its harvest of deep-sea fish by more than twenty-fold.
Continue Reading By writing this article, this author is hoping that it will create interest and more information will be forthcoming from other readers of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS) website. The subject is known by different names. Very little literature has been published, at least in English, about, what Jim Kerr called, in his “Korean Kingdom […]
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On August 8, 1983, Forrest W. Calkins wrote the following letter to Frank Allard (only an excerpt is included), along with the enclosure referenced in the paragraph: “Over the weekend I did some digging to find some of the ROK covers that I did design, and was lucky to locate one of the UN stamps. […]
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A series of covers, recently offered for sale on Ebay, show another interesting piece of Korean missionary history. The Christian Literature Society of Korea (대한 기독교 서회) was and is a major publisher and bookseller in Korea, and dates back to the earliest years of Protestant Christian missions. It is an ecumenical organisation as is […]
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Normally mint stamps are worth more than used stamps. One notable exception to this philatelic rule is the often faked cancellations of Korea’s first two stamps issued in 1884, the 5 and 10 mun values. As these two stamps were used for just a few days because of a riot/revolution that burned down the Korean […]
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For the International Youth Stamps Collectors’ Exhibition Europhila 2010 on October 2-3, 2010 in Stockholm, the KSC agreed to issue a special overprinted exhibition sheetlet as well as one overprinted postcard and one overprinted entire. Organizer of the Europhila Expo was the Swedish Stamp Youth, the Stockholm district, SFU. 25 children and youth from Belgium, […]
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