Introduction - Read this first

I am just starting this blog, so it will come together slowly.

Feel free to comment or ask me anything.

At the moment, I am looking to acquire stamps from the Korea (s), as I am just starting off.  If you have anything to offer, please message me with your information.

Brief Introduction to Korean Stamps

Any stamp that has "DPR Korea" on it is a North Korean Stamp.  It may also have simply the Korean characters "조선우표," meaning Chosun stamp.  North Koreans call their country "Chosun."

You may see many North Korea stamps for sale and they seem to be postmarked.  At the same time, you may wonder how this can be as it might strike you as surprising that North Koreans have the funds, or that they are allowed to send letter mail.  If the stamp seems very cleanly applied, such as right in the top left corner, then this stamp was probably a CTO (cancelled-to-order).  In general, this occurs so that the stamp could be sold to a collector at a rate lower than the face value, and the stamp prevents them for using it for sending mail.  Furthermore, a stamp which has been post-marked may actually be worth more down the road, as compared to one that is untouched.  It just depends.

Stamps from South Korea will usually have just the name of that country in Korean characters "대한민국" following by "우표," meaning, stamp.

Prior to the division of these two countries, it is important to note that Korea proper referred to the land mass of both of these nations, and so the basic term "Korean stamp," should refer to one used prior to the split.