North Korea’s “Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month” began on June 27, and it has already seen the release of two new postage stamps.
Issued by the Korean Stamp Corporation, the stamps are strikingly anti-American, which is in line with the government’s annual “struggle,” which commemorates the outbreak of the Korean War and runs until July 27 this year.
One of the stamps depicts a Korean fist crushing a U.S. missile alongside a tattered American flag. It reads, “against the strong measure with stronger measure.” Another stamp shows a hand holding a gun and eight missiles pointing toward a building that bears resemblance to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. It reads, “not by words, entirely by weapon.”
In addition to the stamps, the month-long event will include a massive anti-America rally in Pyongyang, the nation’s capital. where an estimated 100,000 North Koreans will march.
‘FATTY MONSTER U.S. IMPERIALISTS’
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.”
The other newly issued stamp says ‘not by words, entirely by weapon.’
The 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.
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.
Philately is so prominent in North Korea that there’s an entire museum dedicated to the hobby in Pyongyang.