A postcard from North Korea

Postcards are one of my favorite hobbies. I love everything about them – receiving postcards in the mail, looking at the stamps and postmarks, and the process of buying, signing and sending postcards to others or myself.

I now have about 100 postcards in my collection from all over the world. Basically they can be divided into two categories:

• Postcards I received by participating in postcrossing (a project to exchange postcards with random people from around the world).
• Postcards that I send myself from my own travels to refresh my memories when I arrive. And in general, it’s another option of what you can bring back from your vacation.

And so this summer, while I was traveling in Prague, I received one of the most unusual postcards in my mailbox that not only I have, but postcrossers in general. At least, I couldn’t find a single mention of it on the Internet (although, of course, I think a few hundred other people on the planet have them).

So. It’s a postcard from North Korea! Yes, yes, I got a postcard from the DPRK, one of the most closed countries in the world, which is very difficult to get into.

North Korea has been under a number of international sanctions for many years, and its government is in no hurry to make contact with its hostile neighbors. It is possible to visit it only as part of an excursion group, which travels accompanied by an employee of the local state security authorities along a clearly laid out route without unnecessary amateurishness.

I’ll be honest, I have plans to visit this country. I am very interested in their history, their state system. I like their nature and I think it will be necessary to see it, because the world is changing so quickly.

However, trips there are not cheap. A good tour for a week or a week and a half will cost 2,000-3,000 US dollars, plus the road to China or Vladivostok, where the routes start from.

And here I can rejoice in this card.

Naturally, this is no ordinary DPRK post office. You can’t just send a postcard from the inside. There is a tourist zone where tourists are allowed to buy various souvenirs (including a souvenir set of North Korean coins, which differ slightly from the common ones, which are not only forbidden to take out of the country, but in general they are not allowed to be used by a tourist).

So there you go. In the same gift store you can buy a postcard, sign it and send it by dropping it in a special mailbox. What’s interesting is that even this mail is very thoroughly scrutinized, as the stamp of extinguishment is much later than it was sent.

And the author of the postcard is blogger Edward Gawiler. He takes great photos from his travels. And since he lives in Germany, I can tell you that he has the coolest reports from hundreds of German cities, small and big. I can’t thank him enough for this wonderful gift!

On the front of the postcard is a patriotic image with three North Korean soldiers loading cartridges into the magazines of automatic rifles, which are here with bayonets fixed. Silhouettes of artillery pieces and fighter planes in the sky are visible in the background.

The soldiers are different, as well as the uniforms they are wearing. Apparently – different branches of the army. In front, judging by the buttonholes – in a rank similar to the Russian efreyator or Ukrainian senior soldier.

The very first one is an artilleryman in a military uniform. Beyond that, I can’t answer. Perhaps my subscribers will tell me if anyone knows? The second one is a regular infantryman of some sort. Is it possible that the third one is a pilot?

The postcard read: “Be ready to fight the aggressor / invader to the end!”. And it was while trying to translate this phrase that I first encountered an interesting Korean keyboard, where the characters seem to be put together from a construction kit.

Speaking of the army. Looking at the latest military parade in Pyongyang, it is safe to say that the guys are moving forward. This time, the DPRK People’s Army marched its intimidating march with night vision devices, tactical goggles and AK rifles with auger magazines.

But back to the postcard. On the back, actually, are signatures… Addresses. And stamps. One of them is an airmail delivery stamp. The other two are stamped.

And of course, three modern North Korean stamps. One for 30 and two for 50 won. The first contains an image of a rose flower and the others contain the coat of arms of the DPRK. The inscription “조선우표” on each stamp translates to “Korean postage stamp”.

That’s it, folks. For the first time, I touched a piece of North Korea.