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`Near the close of another year, we are again full of fresh hopes and wishes, looking forward to a new year, this time the Year of the Pig. About this time of year we are all busy having things finished, reflecting on the receding year in order to learn from experience, and planning to make the forthcoming year a better and more fruitful one. But this is also a time for us to stop and think about our relatives and friends and show our love for them by inquiring after their well-being and wishing them a happy New Year by letter, if not by visiting them in person. The Ministry of Communications issues two New Year`s Greeting stamps in order to add to the happiness with which people send and receive these greetings. The two stamp designs, ``The Pig, the Last of the twelve Figures`` and ``Magpies and a Korean Moneybag`` have been chosen for the New Year stamps of this year. The former depicts one of the twelve animal figures representing the twelve branches of the Earth inscribed in relief on the stone wall of General Kim Yu-shin of the Shilla Period. The pig is the last figure of the twelve animal figures. And the latter depicts a pair of magpies, which are considered to be an animal of good omen, and a Korean traditional money bag, a symbol of prosperity.`