Both North Korea and South Korea have the same name for their currency. What is it?

The Korean won has been used in some form for thousands of years. During the occupation of Korea by Japan, which spanned from 1910 to 1945, the won was briefly replaced with a Japanese colonial currency called the Korean yen.1

After World War II, however, the division of North Korea and South Korea resulted in two separate currencies, each called the Korean won. Initially pegged to the USD at a rate of 15 won to 1 dollar, a number of devaluations occurred thereafter due largely to the effects of the Korean War on the nation’s economy.

In 1950, the Bank of Korea began operations as South Korea’s new central bank. It assumed the duties of the previous monetary authority, the Bank of Joseon, with exclusive authority to issue banknotes and coins for the country.? Today, the Bank of Korea issues banknotes in denominations ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 won. The notes feature early Yi, or Chos?n, dynasty figures, including writers Yi Hwang, featured on the 1,000-won note; Yi I, featured on the 5,000-won note; and King Sejong, who appears on the 10,000-won note.

In the 1980s, South Korea sought to expand the relevance of its currency to international trade by replacing its dollar peg with a basket of currencies. Further changes were made in the late 1990s, when the government responded to the Asian Financial Crisis by allowing the won to float freely on foreign exchange markets.

 

Picture Credit : Google

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