Democratic People's Republic Of Korea Uniforms In Wear.

[CtahhR]

A fun game for all the family... "Spot the Military Parade medal". There seems to be a distinct lack of any other type of award present in this picture.

[CtahhR]

This picture shows the "North" and "South" taking shots at one another and really reminds me of the Kinks song "People Take Pictures Of One Another" with the line "To prove that it really existed".

[CtahhR]

Here is another troop of Female Naval personnel all wearing the Military Parade medal. I wouldn't like to know the state of their feet afterwards.

[Will]

To me, at least, the decoration that is presumed to be the Hero of Labor on the robe of the woman in the earlier post (worn at the top right of her robe) does not really look like the Labor Hero star, although that must be what it is. The ribbon is correct, but the medal seems to be a design of a gold star on a larger gold background, at least based on the photo. The typical Hero of Labor star is a gold star on a white enamel background that only has a slim gold border around it. The decoration worn in the photo doesn't seem to show the white enamel background, and to me it looks rather large compared to photos of the award.

Of course, it may just be my eyesight, my computer monitor, her robe, or the barometric pressure causing me to think this!

Originally Posted by CtahhR

There certainly is one if someone wants to "buy-it-now" "regret-it-later"! Probably 1000% it's actual value.

Well, I've been watching DPRK prices on Ebay for about two years now.
I have seen perhaps eight first class Orders of Freedom and Independence sold on Ebay in that time. The prices initially were around $1,500. The last one ended a couple of days ago and sold for $203.

The same trend has been apparent with other DPRK awards over the last two years. It seems that most anyone interested in getting them has obtained them.
I suspect that anyone who has paid more than a few hundred dollars for ANY DPRK award (exclusive of the Soviet-made examples) is going to feel some regret.

On the other hand, during the two years that I have been tracking DPRK awards, I have seen multiple examples of most awards sold, including six Orders of Kim Il Sung (second version) within the last 10 weeks! However, this is the first time that I have seen the military parade medal offered in two years. If I were collecting the more modern DPRK material I would have jumped on it. The DPRK has an army of millions, but the total number who actually take part in a parade in Pyongyang is going to be relatively small.

[CtahhR]

The Enamel on the Hero Of Labour isn't very white in the picture but I've seen the enamel on the stars "taint" with age or abuse. If you invert the colours of the photograph you can see the "shadow" of the tools on the star. I would have to say that it is far easier to get older awards from NPRK rather than the more modern ones but this has very much to do with the "loyalty" of the living. These vast parades of young military personnel very rarely show orders being worn so maybe in a few years it will be the medals of today flowing out rather than the orders of yesteryear. The Hero of Labour star on a .cn website is the only Star I have seen with a lower serial number than my own but then again just how many pictures are there to be seen out there? I think I've seen 4 numbered stars so far and one is in my collection. The seller was asking well over $2000 for it but didn't get anything like that for it after I'd haggled.

[Tal Inbar]

High quality pictures from the parade:

The Frame: Kim Jong Un annointed North Korea's next leader

[CtahhR]

There are some fabulous pictures on that link. The Military Parade medal is on almost everyone's chest it seems, sometimes even three! The tank commander has a varied selection of awards.

[Will]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

There are some fabulous pictures on that link. The Military Parade medal is on almost everyone's chest it seems, sometimes even three! The tank commander has a varied selection of awards.

I also noticed the duplication of the Military Parade medal.
But it makes sense.
In light of the precision marching and movement that these parades require, it would be logical for the same units to be repeatedly involved in the parades. It eliminates the need to train an entirely new group of soldiers and sailors to carry out the event. So despite the numbers appearing in these parade shots, I do think that the Parade Participation medals is going to prove to be one of the less common modern DPRK awards.

[CtahhR]

Time will tell..... But right now it is not a "unique" award. If you count the number visible it is more like 4 figures rather than 3 figures and that is just those allowably visible. Certainly a parade troop may well be good at what it does but that must also go through changes. If anyone can show me a "parader" with more than a line of Military Parade medals I am very open to seeing it. There are currently no online auction sites in the DPRK. It would be a very different game if they did.

[CtahhR]

Thinking about the "values" rather than "prices" of DPRK awards I think that Will is right in saying that paying over $100 for a non-Soviet made award could well be a mistake. I personally think that ANY unnumbered DPRK award is not worth over $100 delivered, This includes Hero Stars etc. Some numbered Korean made orders are and will be worth $100+ but by no means a majority of them. Out of all the items in my DPRK collection I have only paid more than $100 delivered for 4 things. 2 Orders of Kim Il-Sung, a Numbered Hero of Labour and an 8 Order documented set. Absolutely everything else has cost less or substantially less than $100 delivered. Within the last month I have been able to pick up 4 Soviet made numbered orders and 4 "Czech" made numbered orders for $20 each delivered. The numbered orders are currently unresearchable and the unnumbered awards will never be researchable so as far as investment goes there is a minimal chance of "getting rich quick" but I personally enjoy just looking at them and at the end of the day if you can pick something up for a couple or so dollars and enjoy every time you look at it you can't complain! So the only return you'll get on your "investment" will be enjoyment. I am currently awaiting the arrival of 203 Medal and Order cases so hopefully I'll be able to show a nice selection of variations of them here soon enough. Now as for the price of DPRK uniforms unless you are going for the highest of ranks in the land they too are and will not be worth more than $100 (unless they are coated in awards). With one of the highest percentage of Military populations the uniforms are by no means rare.