Some of my DPRK awards.

[Tal Inbar]

And bought some NK items....

[Tal Inbar]

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[Esteban_cool]

Nice items you got! So you also developed a taste for NK awards huh? :) Welcome to the club.
BTW, the ribbon for the National Flag Order II class is incorrect. The one you show is for Soldier´s honor order II class.

[Tal Inbar]

An imaginary (?) post in the forum from 2012:

Ah! Remember the days that we could buy NK medals for 5-6 USD on ebay?

:rolleyes:

[charlet]

Originally Posted by Tal Inbar

An imaginary (?) post in the forum from 2012:

Ah! Remember the days that we could buy NK medals for 5-6 USD on ebay?

:rolleyes:

I prefer believing in Santa claus, it is financially less risky. :D










you've a better memory than me, there've been a discussion about the probability of massive faking. I don't see why 3R and soviet stuff should be fakers paradise and collectors hell, while others countries should be the ideal world where Care bears do not know fakes awards.

[CtahhR]

I suppose it can't be cheap to continually issue awards to not only surviving Chinese Veterans but the families of those that didn't make it home or those who have since passed on, but the debt the DPRK owes to the People's Liberation Army is not a small one. What would the map of the Korean peninsula look like now without it?

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

I suppose it can't be cheap to continually issue awards to not only surviving Chinese Veterans but the families of those that didn't make it home or those who have since passed on, but the debt the DPRK owes to the People's Liberation Army is not a small one. What would the map of the Korean peninsula look like now without it?

And could North Korea still be called or considered a country if China doesn´t keep raising and supporting it as a poor kid on the block?

Well, getting back on track, I assume it isn´t that expensive, given the progressively decreasing quality of their awards. They´re replacing enamels by paint on 2nd class awards, brass and copper by aluminium, flatbacks by "mirror" variations, etc.

[CtahhR]

Yeah... The awards aren't quite as grand as they once were but there certainly are far more of them. Back when the awards were made of Silver you had less than a dozen to choose from now there are an almost endless amount of awards. Celebrating 25 years of this and 65 years of that and various other things.. But it may well be mistaken to speak of the Korean war as a historical event as it is still an ongoing conflict, even after 60 years and a few months. Shots are still fired, people still get killed and boats still go to the bottom. We may have not yet seen the "swan song". I do however think that there won't be such a flood of DPRK awards onto the market when the borders are opened up the future unlike others. As I saw today by my flood damaged badges, the natural disasters there will have claimed many, as will have selling them to the Chinese no matter how illegally and I would put money on the VAST percentage of the awards issued before June 1950 being destroyed or lost in battle by now. The situation in the Northern part of the Korean peninsula was very different to the German invasion of the Soviet union as UN/US forces took every inch of the DPRK before it was "liberated". I think in the future when the problems in Korea have sorted themselves out people will look back at the situation with a very different view to the one most of us have today. The Cold War has plenty of thawing left to do yet! I'll continue to stockpile medals of mass enjoyment!

It would be very nice to have more information on the Awards of the DPRK. I recently contacted their embassy in London on the subject and their reply unfortunately contained less information than I supplied in the question. Please can make their own opinions on the awards systems of any nation but my own personal view is that the award system is as valid as any other nation's. I certainly haven't heard of any "cash for honours" scandals coming out of the DPRK. After the US/UN advance to the Chinese border the fact that the DPRK still exists is very much a "victory" and a "liberation". I don't hear people complaining about the Soviet Commemorative awards be it the XX Years of the Workers' and Peasant's Army, the Order Of The October Revolution or 30 Years Of Victory. What's the difference between them and the DPRK commemoratives? Like I said just because we see them as "strange" doesn't make them invalid. I've always found the Russian 3rd Anniversary of the October Revolution a rather strange award..... definitely not invalid and certainly commands a price!

[CtahhR]

Originally Posted by Tal Inbar

An imaginary (?) post in the forum from 2012:

Ah! Remember the days that we could buy NK medals for 5-6 USD on ebay?

:rolleyes:

Remember those days indeed..... but remember them as being "pricey"..... Prices are on a downward rather than an upward....

Hey it's 2012! You want to be thinking in cents more than in dollars with these items....