Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Subjects related to the philatelic history of South Korea.
An article on the basic introduction of the use of Japanese postcards through 1946 by South Korea, ended with the issuance of the South Korea’s first own design of a postcard with the unissued 1946 “Liberation” postcard , Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue (KPSC) UPC1; and with that postcard’s first surcharge of May 1, 1947, KPSC […]
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Most collectors of South Korean stamps are familiar with the 1946 set of Japanese stamps overprinted for use in US-occupied South Korea and revalued in Korean currency, i.e. cheon. These are listed in the Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue (KPSC) as numbers R1-R6 and in Scott as numbers 55-60. They were issued some months after the […]
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A problem which is very uncommon in most parts of the world is the Korean question of what to do with the fact that Koreans could use either (Korean) hangul or (Chinese) hanja characters when sending a telegram? While they can convey exactly the same message in Korean, the two writing systems are completely different […]
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From the first printed stamps in South Korea in 1946 after the WWII, up to around 1953, many of those issues can be found printed as imperforated stamps, double printed stamps and stamps printed on both sides. The stamps were issued by the US Military from 1946-1948. On August 15, 1948, the South Korean government […]
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In 1919 the Japanese introduced “Postage Fee Paid” forms. These forms were used to pay for various kinds of mail matter in bulk. The official Japanese postal term was 郵便料金受領証原符 = Postage fee reception original form and is imprinted on top. The actual mail items received a circular bisected handstamp in characters “(post office name)/postage […]
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Back in 2018 a short article was published that described South Korea’s unusual souvenir sheet (S/S) that was issued in 1966 for commemorating the 6th Postal Week. What is unusual about this S/S is that it was only issued with a red overprint. There was not a single stamp issued to accompany it. The S/S […]
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On 20 August, 2021, Korea Post celebrated the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Kim Taegŏn (金大建, 1821-1846), the first Korean Roman Catholic priest, and a martyr. He was a member of a yangban or aristocratic family who had converted secretly to Catholicism, which was banned and persecuted in Korea until the end of the […]
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Korea Post will issue two stamps on 12 August, 2022 in what appears to be a new series called ‘Foreign Advocates of Korean Independence’. The date of issue is close to ‘Liberation Day’ (해방의 날, Haebang-ŭi nal), 15 August, the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered, thus both ending the Second World War and her […]
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On 14 April, 2022, Korea Post issued a set of 8 stamps as part of its series Han’gug-ŭi yet kŏnch’uk (한국의 옛 건축, Korean Historic Architecture). There were also two sheets issued and a special cancellation. Four churches are commemorated – two Roman Catholic and two Anglican. Shown on the stamps of the churches are […]
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When the new KSS website was launched, I wrote an article about a number of Korean stamps I had been searching fo, that I was never able to find. There is an article titled “Do these Korean stamps actually exist?” that was published on November 30, 2018.
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Occasionally South Korean stamps show up on popular (stamp) auction websites with a 10 won overprint on them. But are these overprints real? According to John Sauer in his Monograph 1, Specialized Postal Stationery Catalog of the Republic of Korea, page 7, postal card KPC #PC15 was created with a 10 won surcharge on the […]
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Mail between China and Korea after 1945 was not common, therefore it was difficult for collectors to get hold of such covers. Business contacts did not yet exist; the missionaries were paralyzed by war and civil wars and they lacked support from their home countries. It is probably no coincidence that the letter shown below […]
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This cover commemorates the appointment of Mark Clark and was sent by the Commander of the ROK Third Division to the Commander of the Ninth Division. General Mark Clark took over the United Nations Command on May 12, 1952, and held the position until July 27, 1953, when the armistice was signed.
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Two post cards, part of a set commemorating the ROK 1955 Expo. These two post cards were made by the Huimangsa 希望社 · 製 for the industrial exhibition commemorating the tenth anniversary of liberation 解放十週年產業博覽會記念. This refers to August 15, 1945, commemorated in both the ROK and DPRK as the date Korea was liberated from […]
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Korea is a peninsula that lies in the sea from China and Siberia towards Japan. It has since 1945 effectively consisted of two parts, North and South. The history of this division has nothing to do with Korea itself, but the effect is that since 1948 there are two countries, the “DPRK” (North) and the […]
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Prior to occupation of southern Korea by American forces, the postage used was Japanese. Since the American occupation, and up to the present time, they have continued to use Japanese postage on hand. Importation of additional stamps from Japan was, of course, immediately stopped. No attempt was made to over the postage on hand in […]
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In 1919 the Japanese Posts introduced “Postage Fee Paid” forms. These forms were used to pay for various kinds of mail matter in bulk. The official Japanese postal term was 郵便料金受領証原符 = “Postage fee reception original form” and is imprinted on top. The actual mail items received a circular bisected handstamp in characters “(post office […]
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Millard Beatty’s article discussed some of the errors he had found on the Italy and New Zealand issues of Korea’s 1951 UN Flag set. I was aware of the Italy issue missing the crown, but the spelling of “Zealand” with an “I”, rather than an “L” was a new variety to me, and I decided […]
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Our past Chairman and Publisher of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS), Ivo Spanjersberg, has long urged that he and I write an article about the Korean Relief Inc. organization and its related Korean philatelic items. Various items of postal history, including postal stationery, aerogrammes, Christmas seals and labels, and other related merchandize, are frequently seen […]
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Last year this cover was for sale on Ebay. I didn’t buy it, but was intrigued by it. The original reason to be interested was because of the seal on the back. This turned out to be an American anti-polio Easter seal, which just like the Korean anti-tuberculosis Christmas seals were sold to raise money […]
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