The objective of International Book Year is to focus intensive attention of all peoples of the world on the important role of books in the promotion of human welfare and social development. Books today have become one of the major media of human thinking and mass communication, with which to preserve and convey all sorts of human knowledge and wisdom.

In the Republic of Korea, a special committee for "International Book Year" has been established under the auspices of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO to launch International Book Year activities under the four following themes as recommended by UNESCO Headquarters: 1. Encouragement of authorship and translation with due regard to copyright; 2. Production and distribution of books, including the development of libraries; 3. Promotion of the reading habit and 4. Books in the service of education, international understanding and peaceful cooperation.

The Ministry of Communications is to issue a commemorative postage stamp in observance of "International Book Year" 1972, which is to be observed by all countries in the world, in the hope that another great stride forward will be taken in the field of book publication in our country.