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`The entire world is to observe on the 24th of October this year, the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. During World War II, the Allied Powers, including the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China, came to think of founding an international organization designed to prevent the recurrence of war, which would be far more effective than the League of Nations that had existed before the war only in name. After a series of meetings of the allied powers, the international body for peace and prosperity of mankind came into being officially on October 24, 1945. The UN is the largest international organization unprecedented in the history of mankind, which is dedicated to the promotion of friendly relations among nations and to the achievement of international cooperation in the solution of economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems confronting the present-day world. Since its founding, the UN has made a great contribution to the promotion of peace and welfare not only for its member nations but also for all other non-member countries. A total of 126 countries have joined the UN as its members as of now. The Republic of Korea was born to the world family of nations on August 15, 1948, through the holding of general elections only in the south of Korea under the supervision of the United Nations on May 10 the same year. Our friendly nations, including the U.S., played an important role in enabling the UN to make the establishment of our government a reality. Our bid for a membership in the United Nations, however, has been turned down repeatedly because of the exercise of the veto power by the Soviet Union, although the government of the Republic of Korea was officially recognized by the UN on December 12, 1948, as the only lawful government having jurisdiction over the whole peninsula of Korea. We have constantly avowed to respect the competence and authority of the UN during the past quater of a century, having our ambassador stationed at the UN Headquarters in New York in the capacity of a permanent observer. On this occasion of observing the 25th anniversary of the United Nations, the Ministry of Communications is to release a commemorative postage stamp in appreciation of its brilliant record of accomplishments and in the hope for our early admission to the UN and for an early reunification of Korea under the banner of freedom and democracy.`