1975 State Visit of the President of Gabon to South Korea

Today's featured stamp issued by South Korea commemorates the 1975 official visit between former President Park Chung Hee and El Hadi Omar Bongo, the former President of Gabon. I currently only have the souvenir sheet in my collection and I'm still awaiting the opportunity to buy/trade for the stamp. Here are some details for this issue:

• Date of Issue: 05 July 1975
• Scott Catalogue: 981
• Korea Postage stamp Catalogue (KPC): C672
• Quantity Produced: 500,000 s/s

The history behind this state visit in 1975 is an interesting one. During this time period South Korea and North Korea were engaged in intense competition for diplomatic recognition and South Korea labored very hard for El Hadi Omar Bongo, the former President of Gabon, to visit Seoul and strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries. During El Hadi Omar Bongo's visit to South Korea it was reported that hundreds of thousands of Korean citizens gathered at the airport and lined the streets in a massive show of support and hospitality. Pictured below is a photo of Park Chung Hee and El Hadi Omar Bongo during the 1975 visit.

While researching this stamp issue and the background behind this visit my wife found an article that explained how diplomatic ties to Gabon was viewed with such pride that Kia Motors went on to name a van after El Hadi Omar Bongo...Most people are very familiar with the "Bongo" vans produced by Kia, but I'm willing to bet that very few knew they were named after the former President of Gabon. Very interesting indeed. Here's an advertisement for the Bongo van:

Fascinating stuff that I never would have learned without this beautiful souvenir sheet in my stock book....this brought me a lot of enjoyment! Fun indeed.