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`The 21st Universal Postal Congress will be held at the Korea Exhibition Center for a period of 24days from August 22 through September 14,1994, attended by about 2,000 people including delegates from 187 member countries and observers from the United Nations and other international organizations. This Congress will set the stage for Korea to enhance the prestige of its postal service in the world arena by serving as the chair nation for this congress and as the chair nation of the Executive Council for five years following the Seoul Congress. The Universal Postal Union was established on the basis of the Berne Treaty drafted by Heinrich von Stephan, a senior official in the postal administration of the North German Confederation, and approved by the 22 nations in Berne, Switzerland in 1874. The UPU was the first international organization that Korea joined under the name of the Empire of Korea in 1900. At this Congress there will be discussions about major pending issues such as the future direction of the world postal services, reorganization of the UPU and revision of the Acts of the international postal services, etc. The new members of the Executive Council and the Cousultative Council for Postal Studies will also be elected. In commemoration of the Seoul Congress the Ministry of Communications is issuing four kinds of commemorative postage stamps featuring ``Bookshelves``, a folk painting depicting books, stationery and other daily necessities, ``A Sword Dance`` by Sin Yun-bok depicting a shaman dancing with two swords, one bearing the UPU symbol in the background of the letticework pattern of traditional Korean houses, the other bearing the portraits of Hong Yong-sik, who founded the Korean modern postal system and Heinrich von Stephan, who drafted the Universal Postal Convention.`