Updated on Jan. 10, 2025 at 6:44 p.m. ET
Read a version of this story in Korean
North Korea released multilingual announcements about new postage stamps for 2025, but rather than describing the stamps in Korean, Chinese, and English, as usual, the announcement also included Russian for the first time.
Though the postage stamps themselves only have writing in Korean and English, an expert told RFA that including a Russian translation in an official announcement is an indication that Pyongyang is drawing closer to Moscow.
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited supreme leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, and the two leaders agreed to boost cooperation and fight sanctions.
Later in the year, North Korea began sending troops to Russia to assist in its war with Ukraine, with more than 12,000 deployed there so far.
So far, two announcements containing Russian have been published on the website of the Korea Stamp Corporation, the issuing authority of postage stamps in North Korea.
The first, released on Jan. 1, advertises an oval-shaped stamp and five post cards that commemorate the new year, showing modern buildings and monuments in winter, children playing in the snow, tanks driving through the snow, and musicians performing in traditional clothes.
The second announcement advertises four stamps and three postcards related to North Korea’s sports achievements in 2024:
- Two stamps and one post card commemorate North Korea winning the championship at the under-20 women’s soccer world cup.
- One stamp and one post card commemorate North Korea winning the championship at the under-17 women’s soccer world cup.
- One stamp and one post card commemorates Kim Kum Yong’s 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships gold medal in the women’s singles event.
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At the end of the four page document is an order form in English, Chinese, and Russian for collectors to purchase the stamps and postcards from overseas.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification confirmed to RFA Korean that previous notices did not include Russian.
The inclusion of Russian in the announcement is a reflection of the deepening relationship between North Korea and Russia over the past few years, Jeong Dahyeon, a South Korean academic who wrote a dissertation about implications and symbolism in North Korean postage stamps, told RFA.
Jeong said that even in 2015, which Pyongyang and Moscow co-declared their “Year of Friendship,” North Korea did not include Russian in its documentation announcing the stamps commemorating Russo-North Korean relations.
“There has never been such a full-scale use of Russian,” he said. “It seems that the notice itself can be interpreted to mean that the main customer base [are collectors] in Russia.”
Jeong also noticed other oddities indicating that Russia is of greater importance in North Korea these days.
In December, the Korea Stamp Corporation issued two series commemorating Sino-North Korean and Russo-North Korean friendship. The series celebrating ties with Moscow has a serial number of “Ba79,” whereas the series celebrating ties with Beijing has a serial number of “Ba80.″
That’s a reversal in sequence. Similar stamps issued in 2023 placed China-related stamps ahead of Russia-related ones.
“Stamps are the essence of North Korean propaganda and a means to clearly confirm internal changes,” said Jeong.
He also said that North Korea could possibly bypass sanctions by selling stamps.
“There are countries that can exchange mail with North Korea in accordance with the Universal Postal Convention, and Moscow is the distribution hub for the Korea Stamp Corporation,” he said. “It is clear that North Korea aims to extend the scope of its relations with Russia even to the realm of stamps.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung Edited by Eugene Whong.
Update includes the information about the Jan. 1 announcement.