Detail

`To add variety to the designs of Korean definitive postage stamps, the Ministry of Information and Communication is issuing ten 170-won definitives featuring traditional Korean farming equipment. In the past, a typical Korean farmer had to put in long hours of daily hard physical labor all the year round because traditional rice-farming demands constant care and handling starting from sowing rice seeds in the spring, harvesting rice crop in the fall, and storing the crops in the winter.In the spring, framers plow their paddy fields using ox-pulled plows and broke up and harrowed clotted soil of using ``Sseore``.In tilling dry fields, farmers used to sow the seeds from the sowing baskets on their shoulder and buried the seed deep enough not to be blown away using ``Namtae``, which was generally used in Jeju Island.In the summer, they weed paddies using sharp-handled hoes and pumped up and transported the water from irrigation ditches to replenish the groundwater in their paddy fields, using ``Yongdurei`` (water dipper) made up of a hollowed log hung by a rope tied to a tripod.In the fall, they spread out their harvest crop, say red peppers and peeled pumpkin skins to dry on ``Meongseok`` (square straw mat) or round-shaped wicker trays.For harvested rice, rice grains were thrashed out from the spikes using ``Geunae`` (Korean thresher).The threshed grain is put into a winnow to separate out stones and chaff.Then the rice grains were transported using A-frame carriers made of wood and rope and stored in rice chests made of bamboo and clay.Before each meal, the stored rice was taken out and decorticated using stone or wooden pestle and mortar or grinding stones.Farmers also used ``Namu-janggun`` (manure barrels) and ``Jaetbak`` (fertilizer ash containers) in carrying natural fertilizers to the paddy and dry fields. We hope that perusing Korea`s unique agriculture heritage featured on these stamps will offer an opportunity to get a better idea of traditional Korean farm life and stop to appreciate farmers for their hard work and care season after season to provide us with food.`