Earlier this year, North Korea issued a new set of stamps promoting its nuclear arsenal on the 70th anniversary of the regime’s founding.
Issued by the Korean Stamp Corporation, the stamps show mobile missile launchers and feature the phrases “immediate counterattack” as well as “mass production of nuclear warheads and ballistic rockets.”
The stamps highlight a speech by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last year, when he called for increased weapons production in response to “the enemy’s manoeuvres for a nuclear war.”
The new stamps boast the regime’s military prowess, including its controversial nuclear arsenal.
Another stamp, this depicting Kim Jong-un during his speech, includes the phrase “a new victory on all fronts of building a socialist power with revolutionary gunfire.”
The other stamps promote North Korea’s economy; its construction, carbon and chemical industries; and its various achievements in healthcare, education, sports and culture.
The regime’s stamps are frequently used for propaganda purposes.
NORTH KOREAN PHILATELY
The Korean Stamp Corporation has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) since 1965. It produces stamps for domestic use as well as for philatelists and collectors around the world. Its headquarters is located near one of Pyongyang’s most popular hotels.
One stamp depicts Kim Jong-un during a recent speech with the phrase ‘a new victory on all fronts of building a socialist power with revolutionary gunfire.’
The newly issued stamps join a catalogue of sought-after issues, which date back to 1946 and are popular for their rarity as well as their design. According to Monuments Writ Small: Postage Stamps, Philatelic Iconography, and the Commercialization of State Sovereignty in North Korea by Ross King, North Korea has outproduced South Korea in regards to stamp production since the 1970s.
In fact, philately is so prominent in North Korea that there’s an entire museum dedicated to the hobby in Pyongyang.
‘FATTY MONSTER U.S. IMPERIALISTS’
Other stamps explore the regime’s various industries and achievements.
Last August, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency issued a statement calling on the world to fight “the fatty monster U.S. imperialists” and calling the U.S. “a paper tiger easy to be crushed and set on fire.”
A set of four stamps commemorating the nation’s July nuclear missile tests was also issued by North Korea last August.
In October, North Korea released a set of three stamps featuring three generations of North Korean leaders, including the nation’s founder Kim Il Sung, former leader Kim Jong Il and current leader Kim Jong Un.
Earlier in 2017, as part of its “Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month,” North Korea released another two stamps with strong anti-U.S sentiments.