This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of South Korea. In 1945, Korea was liberated from Empire of Japan's colonial rule at the end of World War II, but soon divided into North and South Korea. South Korea began to issue its own stamps from 1946. Korea has been represented in the Universal Postal Union since 1900, and though Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, Korean membership was overseen by Allied military representatives after the World War II and resumed by South Korea on December 17, 1949.