Unbound
1946 · Korea
Korea: P ostal Department of the U.S. Military Government in Korea, 1946. Unbound. Very good. This Korean independence 25-jeon “turtle warship” postal card celebrates Gwangbokjeol (the Restoration of Light) and “One Year of Korean Liberation” on August 15, 1946. It was issued by the P ostal Department of the U.S. Military Government in Korea.
Although no special stamp was issued for the occasion, a commemorative postmark, dated “46.8.15” shows a Korean warrior breaking a chain with his sword, was applied to the 25-jeon indicia, and a rectangular cachet was hand-stamped in purple to the reverse as well. It features Korean and U.S. flags along with text that reads, “Commemorative Issue / One Year of Korean Liberation / August. 15. 1946”.
The front of the card shows youthful Koreans waving national flags as they march upon torn Japanese Rising Sun flags and broken chains as white doves fly in the background. A rooster and dog scamper alongside the procession indicating the change of lunar years.
The front of the card is in nice shape; the reverse is lightly soiled, . The joy of liberation was soon tarnished when Russian forces which had only declared war upon Japan three days after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as it prepared to surrender to the United States entered Korea from the north accepting the surrender of Japanese forces as the Americans did the same in the south. The Soviet advance stopped at the 38th parallel as advised by the United States, and the country was soon tensely divided along the ideological bounds. Open warfare broke out in 1950, when the Communist North Korean People's Army invaded the south with the support of the Soviet Union and China. (Inventory #: 010554)
Although no special stamp was issued for the occasion, a commemorative postmark, dated “46.8.15” shows a Korean warrior breaking a chain with his sword, was applied to the 25-jeon indicia, and a rectangular cachet was hand-stamped in purple to the reverse as well. It features Korean and U.S. flags along with text that reads, “Commemorative Issue / One Year of Korean Liberation / August. 15. 1946”.
The front of the card shows youthful Koreans waving national flags as they march upon torn Japanese Rising Sun flags and broken chains as white doves fly in the background. A rooster and dog scamper alongside the procession indicating the change of lunar years.
The front of the card is in nice shape; the reverse is lightly soiled, . The joy of liberation was soon tarnished when Russian forces which had only declared war upon Japan three days after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as it prepared to surrender to the United States entered Korea from the north accepting the surrender of Japanese forces as the Americans did the same in the south. The Soviet advance stopped at the 38th parallel as advised by the United States, and the country was soon tensely divided along the ideological bounds. Open warfare broke out in 1950, when the Communist North Korean People's Army invaded the south with the support of the Soviet Union and China. (Inventory #: 010554)
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