Detail

In the era of digital communications, news is transmitted and information is shared in real time. Naturally, hand-written letters are often viewed as a retrogressive, outdated method of communication. Nevertheless, letters remain the best medium to convey writers’sentiment, which cannot be transmitted digitally. Korea Post recently issued postage stamps to remind people why the slow travel time of letters, the sentiment of waiting, and the easy accessibility of post office are meaningful. The designs featured in the new stamps are the grand prize and gold prize winners of “The 20th International Postage Stamp Design Contest”, held under the theme “Poems and songs related to letters or the post office.”“With Music Inside,” the grand prize in the youth category (Yun Yu-seon, Seoul Seongdong Global Business High School) is joyful. The musical notes being poured inside an envelope reflect the value of letters, which convey the joy and happiness of the sender. The gold prize winning design (Park Jeong-hyeon, Ansan Kyungan High School), “A Slower Speed for a Deeper Love,” expresses the intrinsic meaning of snail mail. A mailman may be traveling at a snail’s pace but carries all the affection contained within the letter. The grand prize winner in the university student /general category was “Sending it to You” by Oh Yun-jeong. The design shows a big smile on the face of a mailman who is carrying, on the back of his bike, a bag filled with love. Delighted children following his trail are trying to catch the letters of love. Lastly, the gold prize winning design, “Letters from Deep in the Mountain by Gang Yeon-su, expresses the joy of dropping letters in the mailbox by portraying the pureness of children living out in the countryside. There are things we need to hold on to in this age of fast-changing technology. The feeling of excitement felt when dropping a handwritten letter in the mailbox after carefully selected words, sealing it inside an envelope, and putting a stamp on it, as well as the joy of receiving the letter, and the excitement of reading a letter - these feelings must be the very reason why we still cherish letters.