North Korean National Anthem Stamp

This article features the North Korean national anthem stamp in a souvenir sheet from 1996. Stamps are political documents. As such, they often feature nationalistic and patriotic figures and symbols. A common type of musical stamps are those that feature anthems of countries. Richard Scott More, Curator of the British Library’s Philatelic Collection wrote that “National anthems are a popular way for nations to eulogise their history, traditions and struggles musically since the nineteenth century.” Read his further comments about the topics on this blog post. You can read about national anthem stamps from El Salvador, Mexico, Canada, and Liberia, among others on this blog.

This post features a stamp, in a souvenir sheet, that features the national anthem of the country of North Korea.

North Korea

Officially, the country we know as North Korea is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Although Korea is an ancient country with a rich culture, the history of North Korea as a country dates only to the mid-twentieth century. In 1910, Japan invaded and annexed the Korean peninsula into its growing Empire. This brutal occupation only came to an end with the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II. Echoing divisions that took place in areas across the world, the allies who won the World War divided the Korean peninsula into two zones. The northern part was occupied by the Soviet Union, while the southern part the United States. Efforts to unify the country in the late 1940s, however, failed. Later, this inevitably led to the bloody and heart-breaking Korean War that took place between 1950 and 1953

The northern, Soviet controlled area of the peninsula became the modern country of North Korea. The country has been under the control of the repressive Kim dynasty for three generations. This began with the country’s founder and first leader, Kim Il-sung who was in power until his death in 1994. Furthermore, he passed his power to his son Kim Jong-Il who governed until 2011. Then, his son Kim Jong-un took over and has ruled ever since. It is one of the most repressive regimes on earth.

The National Anthem

The song “Aegukka” is the official national anthem of North Korea. It dates from 1945 and was a patriotic song written to celebrate independence from the Japanese occupation. Other names for the song include “Let Morning Shine, or “Song of a Devotion to a Country.”

The lyrics to the song are by the poet and politication Pak Se-yong (1902-1989). The music is by the composer Kim Won-gyun and both date to 1947. That same year, the song was adopted as the official national anthem.

Officially, there are two verses to the song, though usually you only hear the first. It is an unusual patriotic song in North Korea, because it does not praise either the Communist Party or the Kim family, but the country as a whole.

The Stamp

The stamp proper features the musical score for the melody of the song. The color of the background changes from a yellow on the top to a deeper orange on the bottom, a beautiful ombré effect. It has the value of 1 North Korean chon. Officially, the stamp is to mark the second anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung.

Of course, as you can see here, the stamp was also a part of a larger souvenir sheet. At the top of the sheet, sitting above the stamp, is an image of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Behind the palace is a bright rising sun. Further, at the bottom of the stamp are the words for a third verse which is rarely used. In the corners are the national flowers of Korea, the Magnolia Sieboldii.

The Lyrics (English translation from Kim-Il-Sung University)

1. Shine bright, you dawn, on this land so fair,
   The country o fthree thousand ri,
   So rich in silver and in gold you are,
   Five thousand years of your history.
   Our people ever were renowned and sage,
   And rich in cultural heritage,
   And as with heart and soul, we strive,
   Korea shall forever thrive!
   
2. And in the spirit of Mount Paektu,
   With the love of toil that shall never die,
   With a will of iron fostered by the truth,
   We’ll lead the whole world by and by.
   We have the might to foil the angry sea,
   Our land more prosperous still shall be,
   As by the people’s will we strive,
   Korea shall forever thrive!

Finally, North Korea is a country that is still quite isolated from the rest of the world. However, in a rare moment of diplomatic hope, the New York Philharmonic went to the country in 2008. Here is the orchestra playing the North Korea national anthem and then the “Star Spangled Banner.”