UNPA World Heritage stamps to debut Aug. 15 in Hartford, Conn.

By David Hartwig

The United Nations Postal Administration highlights UNESCO World Heritage sites in South Korea on six stamps in an Aug. 15 issue.

The new set includes six stamps as well as three prestige booklets containing stamps in addition to text and illustrations. There will be two stamps and one prestige booklet for each of the three U.N. post offices.

The United Nations Postal Administration will host a first-day ceremony for the World Heritage stamps Thursday, Aug. 15, at 1:00 p.m., during the Great American Stamp Show taking place Aug. 15-18 in Hartford, Conn.

The stamps are part of the UNPA World Heritage series that features sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The series began in 1997.

With its World Heritage list, UNESCO says it “seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.”

The six new stamps of sites in South Korea commemorate the Hwaseong fortress; Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa dolmen sites; Jongmyo shrine; Seokguram grotto and Bulguksa temple; Jeju volcanic island and lava tubes; and Sansa, Buddhist mountain monasteries.

These sites make up six of South Korea’s 16 properties on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

A 73¢ stamp issued for the post office at U.N. headquarters in New York City shows Hwaseong fortress, a striking example of late 18th-century military architecture in Suwon, South Korea.

The $1.65 stamp for the U.N. New York City post office features a dolmen, or ancient stone burial marker, from one of the Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa dolmen sites, which together represent one of the most significant collections of dolmens in the world.

The Jongmyo shrine in Seoul, South Korea, is shown on the 1.20-franc stamp issued for the post office at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 1.90fr stamp for the U.N. Geneva post office pictures the Seokguram grotto and Bulguksa temple, which form a religious architectural complex in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Jeju volcanic island, with its extensive system of lava tubes, appears on the €0.95 stamp issued for the Vienna International Center post office in Vienna, Austria.

The €1.90 stamp issued for the Vienna post office shows Sansa, which consists of seven Buddhist mountain monasteries located throughout South Korea.

Sergio Baradat of the United Nations designed the stamps using Shutterstock stock photographs of the sites.

Issued in panes of 20, the stamps measure 50 millimeters by 35mm each and are perforated gauge 14.5 by 14.25.

Royal Joh Enshede of the Netherlands printed the stamps by offset lithography.

For ordering information for the Republic of Korea World Heritage stamps and related products, visit the UNPA website; email unpanyinquiries@un.org; telephone 212-963-7684 or 800-234-8672; or write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900.

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