20th Anniversary Of Chongryon Commemorative Medal.

[CtahhR]

I suppose time will tell.... I will be contacting the embassy in London on the matter some time soon. I would be surprised if Hero Stars and Orders of Freedom And Independence 1st Class and Orders of Kim Il Sung were not recorded in detail as they are not only awarded in far smaller numbers the two latter orders are still numbered which would be a rather moot point if they weren't recording who they went to for almost 60 years. It would seem a rather decadent waste of valuable labour to number them for no reason when produced nationally. It is also a real shame that Hero Star numbering was also discontinued before 4 digits. As there were 481 "Hero of the DPRK" created during the Korean War I don't think it would be too presumptive to attribute Type 1 "Hero Of Labour" stars to the same period too. I think the smaller serial numbers on the reverses of both stars date immediately after the Korean War. There is still so much information to extract but I seriously doubt that it will be an easy job.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

I suppose time will tell.... I will be contacting the embassy in London on the matter some time soon. I would be surprised if Hero Stars and Orders of Freedom And Independence 1st Class and Orders of Kim Il Sung were not recorded in detail as they are not only awarded in far smaller numbers the two latter orders are still numbered which would be a rather moot point if they weren't recording who they went to for almost 60 years. It would seem a rather decadent waste of valuable labour to number them for no reason when produced nationally. It is also a real shame that Hero Star numbering was also discontinued before 4 digits. As there were 481 "Hero of the DPRK" created during the Korean War I don't think it would be too presumptive to attribute Type 1 "Hero Of Labour" stars to the same period too. I think the smaller serial numbers on the reverses of both stars date immediately after the Korean War. There is still so much information to extract but I seriously doubt that it will be an easy job.

I had acquired a documented 3rd (or 2nd? can't remember) Order of National Flag when I was in Minsk several years ago. I subsequently contacted embassies, but no response. Then went to the Korean Friendship Association, and did get a response which at least did NOT indicate that research was NOT possible. However, the indication was that I'd need to:
a) travel to North Korea
b) have proof that somehow i was related to the original recipient

[CtahhR]

A good share of non-Sino/Korean awards were for supplying medical assistance to the "Northern" forces. It's a shame the "high-end" DPRK awards I have are lacking their original paperwork (or any other kind) so unless they have an archive going by serial number I don't think I'll be getting too far. Knowing how these awards come onto the "western" markets I wouldn't be surprised if I had some numbered Orders that were awarded to the same person and I may possibly have complete groups without even knowing it.
If there were a book such as "Heroes Of Labour" listing recipients in order of their awarding then maybe the 12th person would have Star #12 and the 212th person the Star #212. I'd be quite happy with something like that and then I'd have some clue as to whom my Star was awarded and possibly what for. Some how I don't think a Korean War period Hero Of Labour will be awarded for representing the country at an international sporting event. Almost certainly for what the DPRK calls "Engineering" (The production and supply of materiel).

[Will]

A month or two ago on Ebay a seller was offering a small lot of unrelated Japanese medals and badges. I found the listing because I was searching for a particular Japanese table medal. When I looked at the group being offered I was surprised to see that it included this DPRK decoration, cased, with the ribbon bar.

The whole lot sold for about $80.

[CtahhR]

Not too bad a price... These certainly don't seem to be as rare as thought last year. I've seen 8/9 of them for sale alone in the last year. All of them always look to be in perfect unworn condition.

[Will]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

Not too bad a price... These certainly don't seem to be as rare as thought last year. I've seen 8/9 of them for sale alone in the last year. All of them always look to be in perfect unworn condition.

Yes, well, the one that was in this group may well show up again on Ebay. The seller did not know what it was, and the buyer of the lot may have simply wanted one or more of the Japanese items. What made it interesting to me was the presence of the ribbon bar in the case, which was the first time I've seen that,

I would imagine that the ribbon bars may be worn on suits in Japan with some frequency by the recipients, but that the actual medals themselves only come out of the case for special occasions. Maybe that's why the medals always look to be in excellent condition, but the ribbon bars are missing?

[CtahhR]

You'll never see it for sale again.... hint hint......

[Will]

So then maybe we'll be seeing the other Japanese bits and pieces for sale again? :chuckle

I'm glad that it went to a good home ! :thumbsup
I was really concerned that someone purchased the lot for the Japanese items and was going to toss the Order into their "junk box".

[CtahhR]

The 3 Japanese items joined a large pile of their friends here.... Far too many strings on my bow....

Always got to be on the prowl for the bargains! (Specially when your budget is as limited as mine)

There could well be more of these items on the Japanese market selling unidentified and in Japanese.

Definitely not as rare as we once thought.....

[Will]

I'm beginning to wonder if any DPRK material will be regarded as particularly rare for very long.