South Korean won

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South Korean won 대한민국 원 (Korean) 大韓民國 원1 (Hanja)
Currently circulating coins and banknotes
ISO 4217 Code	KRW
User(s)	Republic of Korea
Inflation	2.5%
Source	Bank of Korea, Jan ~ Feb 2006
Method	CPI
Subunit
1/100	jeon (전/錢) Subunits are rarely used
Symbol	₩
Plural	The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction.
Coins
Freq. used	₩10, ₩50, ₩100, ₩500
Rarely used	₩1, ₩5 Cash transactions are legally rounded to the nearest ₩10
Banknotes	₩1000, ₩5000, ₩10000
Central bank	Bank of Korea
Website	www.bok.or.kr
Printer	Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation
Website	www.komsep.com
Mint	Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation
Website	www.komsep.com
The old won's hanja is 圓 but the new one is not written in Hanja[1].

The won is the currency of South Korea since 1962. It is subdivided into 100 jeon, although denominations in jeon are no longer used. The Latinised symbol for won, ₩, is made of a letter W with an equal sign ("="), which is abbreviated to a single dash sign ("-") in many cases. This symbol replaces the backslash character ("\") on standard Korean keyboards.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Current status 4 Denominations 4.1 Series designation 4.2 Coins 4.2.1 1966-1972 issued coins 4.2.2 1982-2006 issued coins 4.3 Banknotes 4.3.1 1962-1969 issued notes 4.3.2 1972-1979 issued notes 4.3.3 1983-2002 issued notes 4.3.4 2006-2007 issued notes 5 Historical exchange rate 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Etymology

Main article: Etymology of the Korean currencies

"Won" is a cognate of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen. All three names derive from the Chinese character 圓, which means "round shape." The won was subdivided into 100 jeon (hangul: 전; hanja: 錢; revised: jeon; McCune-Reischauer: chŏn), which means "money."

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Korean currencies

The won was first used as Korea's currency between 1902 and 1910. It was replaced at par by the yen, made up of the Japanese currency and banknotes of the Korean yen.

In 1945, Korea was divided, resulting in separate currencies, both called won, for the South and the North. Both the Southern won and Northern won replaced the yen at par.

The first South Korean won was subdivided into 100 jeon. Only banknotes were issued. Initially, the won was issued by Bank of Joseon, with a similar design to the older notes of the Japanese occupation period. However, there were two subtle and important differences. The new notes replaced the paulownia, the badge of the government of Japan, with the Rose of Sharon, South Korea's national flower; and the clause about exchangeability with the Japanese yen was removed. A new central bank, Bank of Korea was established in 1950, and assumed the duties of Bank of Joseon.

This won was replaced by the hwan on February 15, 1953 at a rate of 1 hwan = 100 won. The won was reintroduced on June 9, 1962 at a rate of 1 won = 10 hwan. It became the sole legal tender on March 22, 1975 with the withdrawal of the last circulating hwan coins. Its ISO 4217 code is KRW.

[edit] Current status

The highest valued bill, the 10,000 won note, is worth approximately US$11.^[2] Larger transactions are commonly handled by 100,000 won bank cheques, dispensed from ATMs. South Koreans use electronic means of payment, intra-bank transfers, and credit cards, to a greater extent than even in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

Due to the low value of the won, redenomination or the idea of issuing 50,000 won and 100,000 won notes has been discussed. However, in October 2006, the Ministry of Finance and Economy ruled out currency redenomination for fear of "negative impact on the economy" such as "inflationary pressure and destabilization of the real estate market". ^[3] In spite of this, there are plans to continue forth and a 100,000 won banknote will be released sometime in 2008. ^{[4] [5]}

[edit] Denominations

[edit] Series designation

The Bank of Korea designates banknote and coin series in an interesting way. Instead of putting those of similar design and issue dates in the same series, they assign series number X to the Xth design of for each individual value. The series number are expressed with Korean letters used in alphabetical order, e.g. 가, 나, 다, 라, 마, 바, 사... Therefore, ₩1000 issued in 1983 is series II (나) because it is the second design of all ₩1000 designs since the won introduction in 1962.

[edit] Coins

[edit] 1966-1972 issued coins

The first coins were put in circulation on August 16, 1966. They were all made of brass and had a face value of 1, 5, and 10 won, replacing the equivalent valued banknotes used at the time. Those were the first coins minted since the reintroduction of the won in 1962. They were also the first Bank of Korea's coins to display the year in term of Common era, compare to the hwan coins which had the minted year according to the Korean calendar. The 1 and 5 won coins also came to replace the 10 and 50 hwan coins that were still in circulation along with the newly issued banknotes. Those two hwan coins were finally declared no longer legal tender on March 22, 1975.^[6]

In 1968, as the intrinsic value of the brass 1 won coin far surpassed its face value, new aluminium 1 won coins were issued to replace them. As an attempt to further reduced currency production costs, new 5 won and 10 won coins were issued in 1970, using a different composition of brass. The 100 won notes were replaced later that year by 100 won coins, and 50 won notes were also replaced in the same way in 1972.^[6]

1966-1972 issued coins [1] [2] (Korean)
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of			BOK Series Designation
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue	withdrawal
		₩1	17.2 mm	1.7 g	Brass 60% copper 40% zinc	Plain	Rose of Sharon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1966	August 16, 1966	December 1, 1980	Series I (가)
		₩1	17.2 mm	0.729 g	100% aluminium	Plain	Rose of Sharon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1968	August 26, 1968	Still circulating	Series II (나)
		₩5	20.4 mm	3.9 g	Brass 88% copper 12% zinc	Plain	Geobukseon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1966	August 16, 1966	Still circulating	Series I (가)
		₩5	20.4 mm	2.95 g	High brass 65% copper 35% zinc	Plain	Geobukseon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1970	July 16, 1970	Still circulating	Series II (나)
		₩10	22.86 mm	4.22 g	Brass 88% copper 12% zinc	Plain	Dabotap Pagoda, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1966	August 16, 1966	Still circulating	Series I (가)
		₩10	22.86 mm	4.06 g	High brass 65% copper 35% zinc	Plain	Dabotap Pagoda, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1970	July 16, 1970	Still circulating	Series II (나)
		₩50	21.6 mm	4.16 g	70% copper 18% zinc 12% nickel	Milled	Stalk of rice, value (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title (hangul), year of minting	1972	December 1, 1972	Still circulating	Series I (가)
		₩100	24 mm	5.42 g	Cupronickel 75% copper 25% nickel		Yi Sun-sin, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), year of minting	1970	November 30, 1970
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world coins. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

[edit] 1982-2006 issued coins

With the inflation and the increasing popularity of vending machines 500 won coins were introduced in June 12, 1982 to replace the 500 won notes. In January 1983, with the purpose of standardizing the coin system, new series of 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 won coins were issued, using the same layout as the 500 won coins, but conserving the coins old themes.^[6]

The Bank of Korea had announced in early 2006 its intention to replace the current 10 won coin at the end of the year. With the increasing manufacturing price, now at 38 won a coin, and the rumors that some people have been melting them to make jewelry, the new coin will be more cost effective to produce.^[7] The coin will be made of copper-coated aluminium with a reduced diameter of 18 mm, and a weight of 1.22 g. Its design will stay unchanged. ^[8] The new coin was issued on December 18, 2006.^{[9] [10]}

The 1 and 5 won coins are difficult to find in circulation today, and prices of consumer goods are rounded to 10's.

In 1998 according to the Chosun Ilbo the production cost are as follows, 10 was 35 won, 100 was 58 won, and 500 won cost 77 won respectively. ^[11]

1982-2006 issued coins [3][12]
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of		BOK Series Designation
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue
		₩1	17.2 mm	0.729 g	100% aluminium	Plain	Rose of Sharon, value (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1983	January 15, 1983	Series III (다)
		₩5	20.4 mm	2.95 g	High brass 65% copper 35% zinc	Plain	Geobukseon, value (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1983	January 15, 1983	Series III (다)
		₩10	22.86 mm	4.06 g			Dabotap Pagoda, value (hangul)
		₩10	18 mm	1.22 g	Copper plated aluminium 48% copper 52% aluminium	Plain	Dabotap pagoda, value (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	2006	December 18, 2006
		₩50	21.6 mm	4.16 g	70% copper 18% zinc 12% nickel	Milled	Stalk of rice, value (hangul)	Value (digit), bank title, year of minting	1983	January 15, 1983	Series II (나)
		₩100	24 mm	5.42 g	Cupronickel 75% copper 25% nickel		Yi Sun-sin, value (hangul)
		₩500	26.5 mm	7.7 g			Crane, value (hangul)		1982	June 12, 1982	Series I (가)
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world coins. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

[edit] Banknotes

[edit] 1962-1969 issued notes

With the introduction of the new won in 1962 six new banknote denominations were issued: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 won. The notes were printed in England by Thomas De La Rue Company. Later that year the Bank of Korea issued new 10 and 100 won notes to replace the British notes with notes printed domestically by the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, as well as 10 and 50 jeon notes to help in the settlement of change in smaller transactions. In 1965 100 won notes (Series III) were printed using intaglio printing techniques, for the first time on domestically printed notes, to reduce counterfeiting. Replacements for the British 500 won notes followed in 1966 also using intaglio printing, and for the 50 won notes in 1969 using litho-printing.^[6]

1962 Thomas De La Rue Series [4] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main color	Description		Date of		BOK Series Designation
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	issue	withdrawal
		₩1	94 × 50 mm	Pink	Bank of Korea's symbol	Value	June 10, 1962	May 20, 1970	None
		₩5		Blue				May 1, 1969
		₩10	108 × 54 mm	Green				September 1, 1962	Series I (가)
		₩50	156 × 66 mm	Orange	Haegeumgang near Geoje	Torch, value		May 20, 1970
		₩100		Green	Independence Gate			February 14, 1969
		₩500		Grey	Namdaemun			February 3, 1967
1962-1969 KOMSCO Series [5] (Korean)
		10 jeon	90 × 50 mm	Blue	"Bank of Korea" and value (Korean)	"Bank of Korea" and value (English)	December 1, 1962	December 1, 1980	None
		50 jeon		Brown
		₩10	140 × 63 mm	Purple	Cheomseongdae	Geobukseon	September 21, 1962	October 30, 1973	Series II (나)
		₩50	149 × 64 mm	Green and orange / Blue	Pagoda Gongweon in Seoul	Beacon, Rose of Sharon	March 21, 1969		Series II (나)
		₩100	156 × 66 mm	Green	Independence Gate	Gyeonghoeru Pavilion at Gyeongbok Palace	November 1, 1962		Series II (나)
					Sejong the Great	Main building of the Bank of Korea	August 14, 1965	December 1, 1980	Series III (다)
		₩500	165 × 73 mm	Brown	Namdaemun	Geobukseon	August 16, 1966	May 10, 1975	Series II (나)
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1972-1979 issued notes

With the economic development from the 60s the value of the 500 won notes became lower, resulting in a greater use of cashier's checks with higher fixed denominations as means of payment, as well as an increased use of counterfeited ones.^[6]

Higher denomination notes of 5000 won and 10,000 won were first introduced in 1972 and 1973 respectively. The 5000 won notes featured the portrait of Joseon Dynasty scholar Yi I, while the 10,000 won notes featured King Sejong the Great. Those two notes incorporated new security features, including watermark, security thread, and ultraviolet response fibers. The release of 10,000 won notes was planned to be at the same time as the 5000 won notes but problems with the main theme delayed it by a year.^[13]

Newly designed 500 won notes were also released in 1973 featuring the portrait of naval hero Yi Sun-sin. And the need of a medium denomination resulted in the issue of 1,000 won notes in 1975 featuring the portrait of Confucian scholar Yi Hwang.

The notes are printed using inglio printing.

1972-1973 Series [6] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main color	Description			Date of		BOK Series Designation	Plate produced
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark	issue	withdrawal
		₩5000	167 × 77 mm	Brown	Yi I	Main building of the Bank of Korea		July 1, 1972	December 1, 1980	Series I (가)	By Thomas de la Rue [14]
		₩10 000	171 × 81 mm	Brown	Sejong the Great, Rose of Sharon	Geunjeongjeon at Gyeongbok Palace		June 12, 1973	November 10, 1981	Series I (가)	In Japan [13]
1973-1979 Series [7] (Korean)
		₩500	159 × 69 mm	Green and pink	Yi Sun-sin, Geobukseon	Yi Sun-sin's Shrine at Hyeonchungsa	None	September 1, 1973	May 12, 1993	Series III (다)
		₩1000	163 × 73 mm	Purple	Yi Hwang, Rose of Sharon	Dosan Seowon (Dosan Confucian Academy)		August 14, 1975		Series I (가)	In Japan [15]
		₩5000	167 × 77 mm	Orange	Yi I	Ojukheon in Gangneung		June 1, 1977	May 12, 1993	Series II (나)	In Japan [14]
		₩10 000	171 × 81 mm	Green	Sejong the Great, Water clock	Gyeonghoeru Pavilion at Gyeongbok Palace, Rose of Sharon		June 15, 1979	May 12, 1993	Series II (나)	In Japan [13]
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1983-2002 issued notes

In 1983, as part of its policy of rationalizing the currency system, the Bank of Korea issued a new set of notes, as well as a new set of coins. Some of the note's most notable features were distinguishable marks for the blind under the watermark and the addition of machine-readable language in preparation for mechanization of cash handling. They were also printed on better quality cotton pulp to reduce the production costs by extending their circulation life.^[6]

To cope with the deregulation of imports of colour printer and the increasing use of computers ans scanners, modified 5000 won and 10,000 won notes were released between 1994 and 2002 with various new security features, which included: colour-shifting ink, microprint, segmented metal thread, moiré, and EURion constellation. The latest version of the 5000 and 10,000 won are easily identifiable by the copyright information inscribed under the watermark: "© 한국은행" and year of issue on the obverse, "© The Bank of Korea" and year of issue on the reverse.

The plates for the 5000 won notes were produced in Japan while the ones for the 1000 and 10,000 won notes were produced by the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation. They were all printed in intaglio.^[13][14][15]

With the release of a new set of notes, no plan as yet been made to withdraw these notes from circulation.^[16]

1983-2002 Series [8] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description			Date of issue	BOK Series Designation	Modification
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		₩1000	151 × 76 mm	Purple	Yi Hwang	Dosan Seowon (Dosan Confucian Academy)	Reversed portrait	June 11, 1983	Series II (나)
		₩5000	156 × 76 mm	Orange	Yi I	Ojukheon in Gangneung		June 11, 1983	Series III (다)
								June 12, 2002	Series IV (라)	Color-shifting ink on the dots for blinds, segmented metal thread, copyright inscription
		₩10 000	161 × 76 mm	Green	Sejong the Great, Water clock	Gyeonghoeru Pavilion at Gyeongbok Palace		October 8, 1983	Series III (다)
								January 20, 1994	Series IV (라)	Segmented metal thread, microprint under the water clock, moiré on watermark area, intaglio latent image
							Reversed portrait, Taeguk	June 19, 2000	Series V (마)	Color-shifting ink on the dots for blinds, removal of moiré, EURion constellation, copyright inscription
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 2006-2007 issued notes

The Bank of Korea is releasing a set of smaller banknotes with a new design and improved security features starting in 2006. The decision was taken due to an increase of counterfeited notes detected of 50% every year between 1998 and 2004.^[17] The 5000 won notes were released on January 2, 2006, and the 1000 and 10,000 won notes were released on 22 January 2007. The 5000 won notes were released first because they were the most forged notes (2508 out of the 3153 forged notes detected in the 1st quarter of 2005, an increase of eighteen-fold from the same time in the previous year) and they are circulating in a smaller volume (about 6% of all circulating notes).^[17] The portraits remained the same as the old notes, but the main colour of the 1000 won notes was changed to make it easier to differentiate it from the 5000 won notes at night.^[17] Larger denominations, such as 50,000 and 100,000 won, which have been discussed in the past, maybe introduced in conjunction of this series in the next year or two.

Several new security features are added, including: ^{[18] [19] [20]}

• EURion constellation on all notes, which was previously on available only Series V 10,000 won notes.
• Color-shifting holograms on 5000 and 10,000 won notes. Note that they depict the whole Korean Peninsula.
• Micro printing on several key locations, including on the collar of the portraits of the 5000 and 10,000 won notes.

There are also a few other changes beside security features. On the obverse side, the seal of the Bank changed from red, circle shaped to square shaped of the same color as the note. This is due to popular complaints that the old seal is a remaining symbol of Japanese Imperialism.^[21] The shape of the seal did not change when the Japanese left Korea. On the reverse side, the English name of the Bank also changed from "The Bank of Korea" to "Bank of Korea". It is unknown whether this is intentional or a benign mistake.

2006-2007 Series [9] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description			Date of issue	BOK Series Designation
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		₩1000	136 × 68 mm	Blue	Yi Hwang, Myeongryundang in Seonggyungwan, ume flowers	"Gyesangjeonggeodo"; a painting Yi Hwang in Dosan Seowon by Jeong Seon	Reversed portrait, value	January 22, 2007	Series III (다)
		₩5000	142 × 68 mm	Red and yellow	Yi I, Ojukheon in Gangneung, black bamboo	"Insects and Plants", a painting of a watermelon and cockscombs by Yi I's mother Sin Saimdang		January 2, 2006	Series V (마)
		₩10 000	148 × 68 mm	Green	Sejong the Great, Irworobongdo, a folding screen for Joseon-era kings, and text from the second chapter of Yongbieocheonga, the first work of literature written in Korean	Globe of Honcheonsigye and Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido in the background		January 22, 2007	Series VI (바)
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Historical exchange rate

Shortly after the end of the Japanese occupation on August 15, 1945 the won was pegged to the US dollar instead of the Japanese yen. At the reintroduction of the won in 1962 its value was at 1 USD = ₩125. The exchange rate had inflated to a fixed 1 USD = ₩580 by early 1980, where efforts were initiated to lead to a floating currency. The won was finally allowed to float on December 24, 1997 when an agreement was signed with the International Monetary Fund.^[22] Shortly after, the won got devaluated to almost half of its value, as part of the East Asian financial crisis.

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South Korean won to U.S. dollar exchange rate from January 1989 to July 2006.

Japanese yen to South Korean won exchange rate from January 1989 to July 2006.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "BOK Announces Smaller Banknotes", The Chosun Ilbo, 2005-07-21. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• "New W5,000 Ready for Release on Jan. 2", The Chosun Ilbo, 2005-12-13. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• "New W1,000 Note Unveiled", The Chosun Ilbo, 2006-01-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• "Dollar Plummets to Pre-Crisis Level Against Won", The Chosun Ilbo, 2006-01-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• "New W5,000 Bills Forgery- but not Water-Proof", The Chosun Ilbo, 2006-01-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• "New W10,000 Note Unveiled", The Chosun Ilbo, 2006-05-18. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
• New Korea Notes, information page of BOK's new notes
• Pronunciation of Won at freedictionary.com
• South Korean won on the Galbijim Wiki

Preceded by: South Korean hwan Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 won = 10 hwan

Currency of South Korea 1962 –

Succeeded by: Current

v • d • e Historical currencies of Korea
Mun 1633–1892 Yang 1892–1902 Won 1902–1910 Yen 1902–1945 N. old won 1947–1959 N. new won 1959–present S. old won 1945–1953 Hwan 1953–1962 S. new won 1962–present See also: Etymology of the Korean currencies · History of the Korean currencies

v • d • e Currencies of Asia
Central	Kazakhstani tenge · Kyrgyzstani som · Russian ruble · Tajikistani somoni · Turkmenistani manat · Uzbekistani som
East	Hong Kong dollar · Japanese yen · Macanese pataca · Mongolian tugrug · North Korean won · New Taiwan dollar · South Korean won
Himalayas	Afghan afghani · Bhutanese ngultrum · Chinese yuan · Indian rupee · Nepalese rupee · Pakistani rupee
Indian Ocean	Bangladeshi taka · Maldivian rufiyaa · Sri Lankan rupee
Indochina	Cambodian riel · Lao kip · Myanmar kyat · Thai baht · Vietnamese đồng
Levant	Egyptian pound · Israeli new sheqel  · Jordanian dinar · Lebanese lira · Syrian pound
Malay archipelago	Brunei dollar  · Indonesian rupiah · Malaysian ringgit · Philippine piso · Singapore dollar  · United States dollar
Near East	Cypriot pound · Turkish new lira
Persian Gulf	Bahraini dinar · Iranian rial · Iraqi dinar · Kuwaiti dinar · Omani rial · Qatari riyal  · Saudi riyal · United Arab Emirates dirham · Yemeni rial
Transcaucasia	Armenian dram  · Azerbaijani manat · Georgian lari
Unrecognised Countries	Armenian dram · New Taiwan dollar · New Turkish lira · Russian rouble