COVER N. 776 - SOUTH KOREA

Postmark: World Maritime Day / Gangnam Korea 21.09.2026 

Posted on 21st September;  Received on the 16th October 2026

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What a lovely cover, this one from Korea. From the high quality envelope to the equally superior quality cancellations, everything looks fine and dandy! 감사합니다  Jung Min.

IMO, the International Maritime Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations, was established in 1958, with a view  "to provide machinery for cooperation among Governments in the field of governmental regulation and practices relating to technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping engaged in international trade; to encourage and facilitate the general adoption of the highest practicable standards in matters concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of marine pollution from ships"

World Maritime Day was celebrated  for the first time ever on  March 17, 1978, marking the 20th anniversary of the above mentioned founding convention. On that same year the IMO Assembly decided that  The World Maritime Day would be  observed on the last Thursday of September each year. 

This year it was also decided  that henceforth the theme for World Maritime Day would be biannual. So the theme for 2026-2027 World maritime Day, which was celebrated on the 24th September, is "From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence".

Celebrating this observance date Korea Post issued on 15SEP2026 the 500 South Korean won on the cover, illustrated with a view of  what I believe is Busan Harbour, the busiest in Korea and one of the busiest in the world  with the South Korean Flag and IMO logo superimposed.

The First Day postmark features a nice head-on image of a cargo ship and the regular postmark was applied at Gangnam, a district of Seoul famous for being "a world-class fashion and trend centre and affluent area". (cf. wikipedia).