[EXCLUSIVE]: Stamps issued on Korean Queen Huh Hwang-ok, the Indian princess Suriratna of Ayodhya

NEW DELHI. In yet another step to symbolize strengthening of ties between India and South Korea, the two Asian nations have jointly released postal stamps on the theme “Queen Huh Hwang-ok of Korea”.

The release of the stamp in New Delhi is based on an interesting mythical story of Princess Suriratna of Indian holy city Ayodhya, who had married to a Korean king in 48 AD, some 2000 years ago, and started the Karak dynasty there. After marriage, the princess was given name – Queen Huh Hwang-ok. At some places, her name is spelled as Heo Hwang-ok also.

The multi-coloured stamps valuing INR5.00 and INR25.00 carry the images of the Korean Queen.

A Memorandum of Understand (MoU) for the release of stamps in the name of Korean Queen was signed in February 2019 between India and Republic of Korea.

Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India and The Ministry of Science and ICT (Korea Post), Government of the Republic of Korea had mutually agreed to jointly issue Postage Stamps on the theme “Queen Huh Hwang-ok of Korea”.

Kim Kum-pyoung, Director of Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) India, said that soon an event would be organized to commemorate the launch of the stamps.

Some Chinese-language texts claim that the then King of Ayodhya had a dream where God ordered him to send his 16-year-old daughter to South Korea to marry King Kim Suro.

The royal couple prospered. They had 10 sons and both lived to be over 150 years old.

An anthropologist named Kim Byung-mo Ayuta appeared to confirm the widely held belief that Ayuta was actually Ayodhya, as the two names are phonetically similar. People from the Karak dynasty have also preserved the rocks that are said to have been used by the princess during her sea voyage to Korea to keep her boat stable. Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil claim their ancestry to the Karak dynasty. Then in 2001, more than 100 historians and government representatives, including the North Korean ambassador to India, unveiled Queen Hwang-ok’s memorial in Ayodhya. Queen Hwang-ok’s story has been and can be the “foundation for building better relations” between South Korea and India. (Source-BBC)