Korea Stamp Society / (국제)한국우표협회
Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Philatelic history of Korea
From 2000 to 2006 I visited North Korea 15 times, each time during 4 weeks. During those 4 weeks, I spent weekends and rainy days in the hotel (Mt. Myohyang or Chong Chon Hotel). Also, on my departure from the country, I spent 3 to 4 days in the capital Pyongyang (Yang Gak Do Hotel) […]
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Perforation varieties of early North Korean stamps, say pre-1960, are almost limitless, for example, in his exhibits Dr Maeda detects at least eight varieties for the single Labour Law issue of 1956, (SGN110). The later emphasis on issues for philatelic markets, however, brought about a standardization of production, resulting in much less variability. Almost none […]
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This article was originally published in The London Philatelist, Volume 123 Issue 1416 in June 2014. It is reprinted here with permission of the author, Anthony Bard, who besides being a member of the RPSL is also a member of the KSS. He is well-known for his highly specialized North Korea collection. The article is […]
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The design of the 2004 Lunar New Year stamp (Scott A1942, KSC4321) is adorable. A young boy and girl playing in Korean traditional clothing (Hanbok, or 한복) on Lunar New Year’s Day (Seollal or 설날), both relating to Korean culture. The design shows the political and economic changes in North Korea at the time (due […]
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A question from one of our KSS members: are these stamps real, fake, or a reprint? The stamps in this partial sheet were part of a batch of 1961 and earlier North Korean stamps. These 10 stamps (2×5) are from a sheet of 70 jeon 1959 “Peaceful Reunification of Korea” stamps (Scott 175a / A141; […]
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Kiku Shimbun 169 (August 2016) featured an article about the use of Japanese Showa stamps in North Korea after late 1945. The article is reprinted here by permission. Parts of this article were from a translation of ‘The Specialised Catalogue of Showa Stamps’ with the translation being carried out by our member Nicholas Pertwee. The […]
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A request for information by Australian KSS member Robert Finder: “I have had this for some time, but do not know what it really is. The used #1 is extremely rare and only a few copies are recorded. This pair has a certificate and a lineage from auctions, but I don’t know if it is […]
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Mt. Myohyang Hotel, summer of 2003. I was doing my morning walk around the hotel lobby and saw the telephone booth lady putting out a display tray of stamps in the display cabinet. After she had finished displaying, she started to cut sheet stamps to individual stamps to replenish the display trays. This is when […]
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Following Part-1 of this article in the issue No. 169 of Kiku Shimbun, I have acquired a new and important item for my Showa period collection during my recent visit to Tokyo and the JAPEX’2016 exhibition, this being a Postal Charges Receipt form illustrating the usage of overprinted stamps issued for use in South Korea by […]
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In 1970 the “Philatelic handbook for Korea, 1884-1905” was published by The Collectors Club in their series of handbooks as handbook number 23. Written/compiled by Helen Zirkle and others it was published in 1970 and was, at the time, one of the very few specialized books about Korean philatelic history.
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