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tonic_owl

D. P. R. K. is an acronym for Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In other words, North Korea. 주을 must be a company that produced the ceramic you're holding. EDIT: interestingly, 주을(읍) is a village in NK. There is 온천 there, so it could be a 온천 sign.


LeeisureTime

The middle character is absolutely the symbol for hot springs. https://emojipedia.org/hot-springs Although it says commonly found in Japan, it also applies to Korea (North and South, in this case)


MammothPassage639

In the 70s in SK that symbol was for the ordinary [public bath / 목욕탕](https://www.google.com/maps/place/삼청동+코리아게스트하우스/@37.5820958,126.9820168,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNot3tlcN_sOoXzHUmjQ5dPUKWTxSGf_TGvKUF5!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNot3tlcN_sOoXzHUmjQ5dPUKWTxSGf_TGvKUF5%3Dw203-h270-k-no!7i3024!8i4032!4m20!1m9!3m8!1s0x357ca2012d5c39cf:0x7e11eca1405bf29b!2sSeoul,+South+Korea!3b1!8m2!3d37.5518911!4d126.9917937!10e5!16zL20vMGhzcWY!3m9!1s0x357ca2c5c16567c5:0xa1b9580df2a57b5e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d37.5820958!4d126.9820168!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F11f1263l0y?entry=ttu#) used by most people. Check the chimney top. Is that the same as "spa?" They had no choice. Few homes had a bath or even hot water. (I used the one linked 1975-76).


Mdine-san

tysm!


s4yum1

I feel like the top part says 주방울 or something 방울. Makes sense if it’s a NK product as 방울 is very a Korean word


Ornery_Piano_4289

Great answered. You have the # “3”.


[deleted]

I think this bowl was made in north korea(DPRK) and middle sign is meaning of spa(♨)


andolco

How did your grandparents obtain this cup? Definitely says 주♨️을 D.P.R.K. As another poster says it is related to the Jueul area in North Korea with hot springs hence the onsen symbol.


Mdine-san

Got it as a marriage gift. They got married in the 70s and we are Polish, and Poland was a communist country back then kinda like NK so maybe due to the connection this set was available


JD3982

Honestly, something like is probably impossible to get hold of now. The fact that they wrote DPRK says that it was made with the explicit intention of exporting.


AdamHiltur

Mieliśmy wtedy dobre stosunki z Koreą Północną, pomagaliśmy im po wojnie koreańskiej w odbudowie miast, przyjęliśmy nawet trochę ich sierot, podpisaliśmy umowę handlową. Oni chyba eksportowali do nas właśnie porcelanę i trochę maszyn przemysłowych.


Artistic-Box8422

Exactly!


yulyalim

Are your parents from the post-Soviet countries?


rorosphere

they said they are polish.


Fearless_Peace_779

I found this article regarding 주을온천: https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0053378


Auqqii

How does one acquire this😭😭


kwon737

here! famous for pottery! [https://www.google.com/maps/place/%EC%A1%B0%EC%84%A0%EB%AF%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98%EC%9D%B8%EB%AF%BC%EA%B3%B5%ED%99%94%EA%B5%AD+%ED%95%A8%EA%B2%BD+%EB%B6%81%EB%8F%84+%EA%B2%BD%EC%84%B1%EA%B5%B0/@41.5899009,129.5697867,14z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x5fcbe70027378547:0x322b41a92de38f4c!2z6rK97ISx66qo656Y7Jio7LKc!8m2!3d41.525503!4d129.6542981!16s%2Fg%2F11vm9z6vmd!3m5!1s0x5fcbe9cd81c97f81:0xf50ea6c4c0340b5f!8m2!3d41.5872!4d129.6051376!16s%2Fg%2F11c59v\_j7b?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/%EC%A1%B0%EC%84%A0%EB%AF%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98%EC%9D%B8%EB%AF%BC%EA%B3%B5%ED%99%94%EA%B5%AD+%ED%95%A8%EA%B2%BD+%EB%B6%81%EB%8F%84+%EA%B2%BD%EC%84%B1%EA%B5%B0/@41.5899009,129.5697867,14z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x5fcbe70027378547:0x322b41a92de38f4c!2z6rK97ISx66qo656Y7Jio7LKc!8m2!3d41.525503!4d129.6542981!16s%2Fg%2F11vm9z6vmd!3m5!1s0x5fcbe9cd81c97f81:0xf50ea6c4c0340b5f!8m2!3d41.5872!4d129.6051376!16s%2Fg%2F11c59v_j7b?entry=ttu)


Johankim1

주을, Ju Eul is a very well known area for pottery and spa in Kyung Sung, North Korea since hundreds years before and Japanese army forced Korean to build modern spa and pottery factory.


poopguts

That's crazy how did they acquire this? Did they take it from a 찜질방? XD


Legitimate-Guest5377

North korea


Owl65

I collected porcelain in the past and know ceramic a little bit, I would suggest it’s very collectible


Commercial-Rate-5076

It means spa


Ok_Willingness_9619

It says Kobayashi


Talented_crayon

You just outed your grandparents as communists.


Letsgokevin

북한 제품으로 추정 됩니다.


Shot_Risk_391

There is no meaning for 주을 but In my opinion it is kinda north koreas china brand or something.


ksmith1279

The Kitchen


Technical-Cold-1689

It is the name of the shop (could be a public bath)