“Stamp Collectors” Make an Appearance
at Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea

Expo Passport and 135 Stamps with Unique Designs Gain a Popularity


“Stamp Collectors” are making an appearance at the Yesou Expo. The Stamp Collectors tour individual national pavilions to get their Expo “passports” stamped from 104 countries and feel as though they are on an overseas trip.

An average Korean travels abroad 1.4 times a year (according to Statistics Korea), while a traveler who was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records made a trip to 200 or so countries throughout his life. This is why the Yeosu Expo that brings together diverse culture from 104 nations and where visitors can obtain commemorative stamps is gaining a huge popularity.

At Yeosu Expo, visitors can get an Expo passport stamped at each pavilion at the entrance or the exit. Stamp designs and colors are diverse depending on each nation’s mascot or exhibition theme. For instance, Cambodia took the motif from Angkor Wat for its commemorative stamps and the Philippines designed its stamp based on a Giant Clam which is one of the most endangered marine species in the world. The excavations of ancient amber sculptures were the motif for Lithuania, and lighthouses lined along the coastline were the motif for Uruguayan stamps.

A 28-year-old Ms. Lee Mi-young from Seoul said “It’s great to keep beautiful stamps on a passport and commemorate my visit. I sometimes take notes on the passport and I’m also keeping diary on it.”

Visitors should first purchase the passport to get commemorative stamps. It is on sale at a souvenir shop near the Expo Digital Gallery. The passport, made by the Korea Minting & Security Printing Corporation, is the size of a real passport and has a wave-shaped watermark that appears when viewed by a fluorescent light. Passport holders may find it convenient to insert their admission tickets into the plastic cover of the passport.

There are 135 types of stamps in total that visitors can obtain at 104 National Pavilions and other popular pavilions including 7 Corporate Pavilions, the Theme Pavilion, the Korea Pavilion and the DSME Marine Robot Pavilion. Mr. Ryu Hong-yeong from the Organizing Committee said “Expo passports and stamps will get people to feel nostalgic for the days when they used to get their passport stamped before the electronic passport was introduced, and children will also have fun to collect diverse stamps with unique designs.”