Philakorea 2002

Exhibition Report by John MacDonnell, Australian Commissioner

Basking in the general success of the FIFA World Cup a few weeks prior, the Korean Ministry of Information and the Philatelic Federation of Korea staged the 10-day PHILAKOREA 2002 World Stamp Exhibition in Seoul from 2 to 11 August 2002. Previously Korea hosted a FIP World Exhibition in 1984 and 1994. The venue was the immense state of the art COEX (Convention and Exhibition) Centre. The exhibition occupied two large adjoining halls with a combined area of 20,000 m2 that accommodated 3,500 frames from 65 countries.

With a combination of free admission, school holidays and the exhibition being located on the ground floor above a massive shopping mall, attendances were large. Youth were extremely well catered for with a philatelic school, personalised stamps, face and mini Korean mask painting, collage / mosaic picture making by pasting stamps, stamp design contest, photo and caricature stamps, philatelic passports and other pursuits of interest to the young.

A large stamps internet area was very popular with young and old, as was the innovative children’s nursery and regular stage performances including traditional Korean mask dancing performances. Other areas of interest included the pavilion of classic artifacts – uniforms, mailboxes, records, etc. Korea Post issued five mini-sheets, one stamps and two postal cards especially for PHILAKOREA 2002

Sales booths were dominated by local dealers geared to the needs of general and youth collectors. Overseas dealers were very few in number.

Australia had 21 entries accepted, made up of 114 frames and 3 literature, the sixth larges number of acceptances which were dominated by Korea (452), USA (200), Germany (179) and Japan (154). The three largest classes were Traditional (907 fraems), Postal History (706), and Thematic philately (701), with Youth being well supported with 312 frames. The frames were set up in a corral rather than a zigzag configuration in well lit halls. Michael Blake and Yung Benson were on the jury with Ray Todd on the Expert Committee.

A point to note for all exhibitors was a matter that the jury secretary drew to the commissioner’s attention, being the continued practice of using scans or photocopies of covers and cancellations. Covers and cancellations should not be reproduced at actual size; they must be reduced or enlarged by 30% and clearly identified as photocopies in an exhibit.

The award (not points) were made available on Day 6 of the exhibition, the points the following day and the points breakdown on Day 8. The notification of the Open Class awards (Excellent, Very Good and Good with no points) left a lot to be desired. The urgent need to standardize the rules and the points scoring of the Open Class was stressed at the FIP Congress. It was further stated that the FIP should actively promote this class to the viewing public, and should in future ensure that Open Class exhibits are located in a prominent position at exhibitions, rather than in the furthest corner.

I note in the literature distributed in Seoul that the next PHILAKOREA has already been scheduled for 12 years time.