Won
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Won | |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 원 |
| Hanja: | 圓 |
| Revised Romanization: | Won |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Wŏn |
Won (pronounced like English "one", or "won" past tense of "win", etymologically akin to Chinese "yuan" and Japanese "yen") is the official currency used in both South Korea and North Korea. Their exchange values differ, however.
| Full names | Symbols | ISO 4217 Code |
|---|---|---|
| North Korean won | ₩n or Wn | KPW |
| South Korean won | ₩ or W | KRW |
Historically, North and South Korean won have been divided into 100 jeon (전; 錢; McCune-Reischauer: chŏn; Revised Romanization: jeon; in North Korea, it is also Romanized jun). Jeon are no longer used in South Korea, as the smallest amount of money that typically changes hands is 100 Won, or roughly 10 US cents.
The word jeon is also used in Korean to translate the word "cent", and in this context accompanies bul (불, 弗), which means "dollar". (The hanja character resembles the symbol "$".) These two words are used by Koreans living in the Western hemisphere when referring to dollar currencies.
| Contents |
Exchange rates
North Korean won
Official exchange rates as of December, 2001
Note: Since then, the North Korean government has abandoned the meaningless rate of 2.16 won to the dollar (which is said to be based on Kim Jong-il's birthday, February 16) and banks in the country now issue at rates closer to the black market rate. However, rampant inflation has been eroding the North Korean won's value to such an extent that currently it is believed to be worth about the same as the South Korean won (of course, the U.S. dollar and other currencies are still worth more in North Korean wons on the black market than officially). This is also apparent when one examines the dates of issue or "series" of the different denominations of banknotes (see below).
Coins in circulation are
- 1 Jeon
- 5 Jeon
- 10 Jeon
- 50 Jeon
- 1 Won
Banknotes in circulation are
- 1 Won (Woman holding a flower, 1992 series)
- 5 Won (Students with a globe, 1992 series)
- 10 Won (Factory worker and the Chollima statue, 1992 series)
- 50 Won (The People and the Tower of Juche, 1992 series)
- 100 Won (Kim Il Sung, 1992 series)
- 200 Won (flowers)
- 500 Won (Palace of the Memory of Kumsusan, 1998 series)
- 1000 Won (Kim Il Sung, 2002 series)
- 5000 Won (Kim Il Sung, 2002 series)
Unusually, the 100, 1000 and 5000 won bills are of essentially the same basic design, portraying the exact same subjects (although they are colored differently). North Korea has in the past issued whole series of notes in which the designs are exactly the same, right down to color, only the denomination being different.
South Korean won
Coins currently in circulation are [1] (http://www.bok.or.kr/template/eng/html/index.jsp?tbl=tbl_FM0000000066_CA0000001017)
- 1 Won (Rose of Sharon, Aluminum)
- 5 Won (Kobukson, Turtle ship, 65% copper, 35% zinc)
- 10 Won (Dabotab, Pagoda, 65% copper, 35% zinc)
- 50 Won (Stalk of rice, 70% copper, 18% zinc, 12% nickel)
- 100 Won (Admiral Yi Sun-sin, 75% copper, 25% nickel)
- 500 Won (Crane, 75% copper, 25% nickel)
Banknotes in circulation are
- 1000 Won (Yi Hwang, scholar, Reverse: Dosan Seowon (Dosan Confucian Academy))
- 5000 Won (Yi I, scholar, Reverse: Yi I's birthplace)
- 10,000 Won (King Sejong the Great and water clock, Reverse: Gyeonghuiru pavillion)
Strangely enough, the numerical denominations of won bills and coins are almost exactly the same as those of the Japanese yen, even though the yen is worth about nine times as much as the won. But, although these ranges of denominations work just fine for the yen (in which case they're very similar to the denominations of the U.S. dollar in circulation), they seem rather undervalued for the won, especially to American servicemen and Japanese visitors. Thus, the highest valued bill, the 10,000 won note, is worth only $10, while the lowest valued coin is worth only 0.1 U.S. cent. This is a holdover from when the Japanese and South Korean currencies had similar values; however, they have sinced diverged, with the yen strengthening and the won weakening. South Koreans often use electronic means of payment and credit cards to get around this problem with their cash. Also, 100,000 won bank checks (supyo) are used for large purchases and are dispensed from many ATMs.
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Won is also the name of a new Korean sect of Buddhism.
External Links
- Globex Info Links on South Korea - Won (http://www.cosmin.com/globex/CurrencyInfoResources.php?currency=KRW&lang=en)
- Globex Info Links on North Korea - Won (http://www.cosmin.com/globex/CurrencyInfoResources.php?currency=KPW&lang=en)
