'Faker' stamp sells 1.59 million copies, generating W1.6b for postal service

The Korea Post, an agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT, generated 1.6 billion won ($1.21 million) from the release of a commemorative stamp featuring League of Legends star Lee Sang-hyeok, better known by the gaming handle "Faker."

Despite being issued in roughly half the quantity of the BTS commemorative stamp released earlier, the Faker stamp posted a higher sales ratio relative to its total print run.

According to industry sources Wednesday, the Faker commemorative stamp — issued Friday in two designs priced at 500 won and 1,000 won per sheet — had a total print run of 2.2 million sheets. Of those, 1.593 million sheets were sold, generating 1.595 billion won in revenue. It marks the first time a domestic athlete has been the sole subject of a commemorative stamp in South Korea.

Faker is widely regarded as a legend of League of Legends. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Lee claimed victory on Oct. 2, setting a historic record by winning the esports event for the second consecutive Asian Games. As the biggest star in esports, Lee is estimated to earn more than 10 billion won annually. It was previously revealed that Chinese teams had offered a salary of around 25 billion won.

Commemorative stamps are issued based on subjects of national significance or those deemed capable of enriching public sentiment.

Under Article 4 of South Korea's stamp regulations, commemorative stamps may be issued for international events, nationwide events, government-designated commemorative days, historical figures and events, and matters related to the country's nature and science and technology that require domestic or international promotion.

However, subjects that could spark political, academic or religious controversy are ineligible.

The process for selecting commemorative stamp subjects follows three steps: a demand survey conducted annually between February and April, a stamp committee meeting held around June each year, and the actual issuance of the stamp.

Over the past five years, the top three best-selling commemorative stamps were, in order, BTS, Faker and the Sipjangsaengdo folding screen.

The BTS stamp — officially titled "BTS, Our Moments Delivered Through Song" — was issued June 13, 2023, in 10 designs with per-sheet prices ranging from 10 won to 2,530 won. A total of 4 million sheets were printed, of which 2.608 million were sold, generating 3.002 billion won in total revenue.

The Sipjangsaengdo folding screen stamp was issued in 16 designs at 430 won per sheet. Of the 1.12 million sheets printed, 909,000 were sold, generating 365 million won in revenue.

Other popular commemorative stamps have included those marking the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics medalists, South Korea's semifinal run at the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted with Japan, and K-pop group Blackpink.

Buyers of the Faker commemorative stamp expressed a range of reactions, with comments including "You'd be missing out if you didn't buy one," "I've been waiting for this," and "I came to get one for my son."

Meanwhile, revenue from commemorative stamp sales goes into the Korea Post's general income.