Ulsan City announced on the 19th that it has joined with Nam Ulsan Post Office to produce and issue custom stamps on the theme of the "Petroglyphs Along the Bangucheon Stream." The issue marks the first anniversary of the site's inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Ulsan City is providing the images to be used in the design, and Nam Ulsan Post Office is handling production.
The pictures carved into the rock are being used as the stamp design. The cliffs standing along the Daegokcheon Stream are made of sandstone. The grooves pecked into them are not deep. A depth about like a scratch from a fingernail has held out for thousands of years.
The Petroglyphs Along the Bangucheon Stream extend over a stretch of roughly 3km around Daegok-ri and Cheonjeon-ri in Ulju-gun. The name covers both the Bangudae Petroglyphs and the Cheonjeon-ri inscriptions and petroglyphs. Scenes of whales being chased, figures drawing bows, abstract patterns whose meaning is hard to make out, and letters left by people of Silla are carved in sequence along a single watercourse. Evidence that humankind hunted whales in prehistoric times remains on these rock faces.
In July of last year, the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Paris, France, decided on the inscription. A year has passed since then, and these stamps are now being issued.
The stamps consist of 14 images, including petroglyph patterns and photographs. They sell for 10,800 won for one full sheet of 14 forever stamps. Unlike buying a design the post office has set in advance, they are issued as "My Own Stamps," ordered and made with the design the applicant wants. They follow the Republic of Korea's stamp regulations.
Reservations are accepted from the 22nd through July 31. Applicants can use the QR code posted on the Nam Ulsan Post Office website, call by phone, or visit in person. The number of copies to be issued and the distribution date have not been announced.
The long-standing difficulties surrounding the petroglyphs remain unchanged. The rock has been submerged and exposed over and over, its surface growing gradually duller, and the closer people view it, the greater the risk of damage. World Heritage inscription means both an increase in visitors and stricter conservation management.
When the real thing cannot be touched, the share that reproductions must take on grows larger. The stamps are one very small piece of that share.
An Ulsan City official said it is a case of a post office and a local government cooperating to promote regional cultural heritage. A stamp attached to a letter is postmarked at some point, leaves for somewhere, and stays in someone's drawer.
Walking the Daegokcheon Stream trail in the dry season, the rock face comes into view along with the sound of gravel underfoot beneath the cliff. The reservation window opens on the morning of the 22nd.
