Attacking through anti-U.S. stamps

North Korea started its official “Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism” month by releasing two new postage stamps.

Surprise! They are not exactly a stars and stripes-spangled spectacular. Instead, the stamps offer some grim images predicting the promised annihilation of America. In one, a fist crushes an American missile, and a flag explodes in tatters. In the other, a hand holds a gun and eight missiles point toward a building that looks suspiciously like the U.S. Capitol.

The new offerings are part of a month of massive celebrations, including a gigantic anti-America rally where people carried placards reading “American imperialists are the war aggressor” and “Defend!” Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency issued a statement calling on the world to stand up against “the fatty monster US imperialists” and calling the U.S. “a paper tiger easy to be crushed and set on fire.” The month commemorates the outbreak of the Korean War.

It’s not the first time. North Korea has a rich tradition of issuing stamps about the American enemy, dating back to the 1960s. As Quartz explained, “North Ko- rea has issued hundreds of politically-themed stamps since 1946, and graphic anti-American motifs began appearing in the 1960s.”

One of the country’s earliest offerings showed a young Kim Il Sung in front of a large South Korean flag. Others portrayed workers, soldiers and Soviet friendship. Others celebrated notable DPRK buildings, local sports heroes and popular animals and plants.

Among the anti-American highlights? A 1969 stamp of Richard Nixon speared by some fountain pens, aptly titled “International Conference of Journalists Against U.S. Imperialism.”

A 1975 beauty showing a muscular North Korean punching a wimpy American soldier. “Yankee bastard” is splayed across the field in Korean.

Others feature, according to Quartz, tributes to Kim Jong Il, Disney characters and many, many options honouring the late Princess Diana.