Korean Won. History and basic information about the South Korean currency

Vaona is the official currency of the Republic of Korea. This currency has a designation in the international financial system KRW and code 410. The name of the South Korean Won originated from the union of hieroglyphs, which is pronounced as Won (hu) a and in translation means Won currency.

History of the South Korean currency

The history of the Won originated in 1950 after Korea left Japan and created two new states on this territory: the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north. The first banknotes of Won were portrayed by the first President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Seung Mann, who at that time was the current head of state. His image remained on bank notes until April 1960. That is, until the very moment when he was overthrown during the "student revolution".

The Korean Won of the First Republic is distinguished by the presence on the banknotes of a considerable amount of hieroglyphics. To write words on bills of that time, Chinese characters were used mainly. Over time, banknotes began to appear in the Korean language. At the same time, it was possible to meet texts periodically in South Korean money in English.

South Korean coins

In circulation there are coins worth one, five, ten, fifty and one hundred won. The first two are quite rare, so when making trade transactions rounding up to ten won is allowed.

June 12, 1982 in circulation were launched coins worth 500 won. The basis for this decision was two reasons. First, a high level of inflation, and secondly, the rapid spread and growth of the popularity of vending machines. Six months later in January 1983, a new series of coins saw the light: one, five, ten, fifty and one hundred won. These coins were made in the same style as the coin of five hundred won, but at the same time the theme of obverse and reverse of old copies was preserved. This step allowed the standardization of the South Korean monetary system.

South Korean banknotes

In circulation there is a Korean won in a thousand, five thousand, ten thousand and fifty thousand. In addition to banknotes, banking checks with a value of one hundred thousand won or more are used to conduct transactions. It should be emphasized that when using such a check on its back side it is required to indicate the owner's passport number, as well as the address and phone number in the Republic of Korea.

The monetary policy in respect of Won and its course

The monetary policy of the leadership of South Korea led to the need to switch to the floating rate of the Korean Won. The start of these aspirations was given on February 27, 1980, and the final transition to the free value of the South Korean currency was realized on December 24, 1997. On that day an agreement was reached between the leadership of the Republic of Korea and the International Monetary Fund. Nevertheless, some time later, in Asia, there was a major financial crisis, as a result of which the Korean won was devalued almost twice.

The Bank of Korea is engaged in the issue of currency in the republic. It is interesting that one of the main problems of this main financial regulator of the country is a high level of counterfeiting. So, in 2006 this attack and at all has reached menacing scales. For example, 50% of the number of denominations of five thousand won (the rate of Korean Won to the dollar was then about 1000 to 1) were false.

This state of affairs forced the government of the state to put into circulation a new series of paper money. First of all, it was the most "popular" banknote in five thousand won that was changed. In 2007, in addition, cash denominations of one thousand won and ten thousand won were put into circulation. These new banknotes have ten protective mechanisms. The updated Korean Won contains the same counterfeit protection as some other currencies: the euro, the British pound sterling, the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen.

On June 23, 2009, the Bank of Korea put into circulation a denomination of fifty thousand won. On the obverse of the note you can see the image of the famous Korean artist of the XVI century, Sin Saimdang, who was also the mother of the Confucian scientist Yi Yi, who became famous under the fictitious name Yulgok. A banknote of fifty thousand won is the first South Korean note on which the image of a woman is placed. In addition, for the selection of a person who will be awarded such an honor, a sociological survey was conducted among the population of the country.

At the moment, the Republic of Korea has 11th GDP in the world in nominal terms. Last years the national currency of this country is quite stable. The Korean Won to Ruble rate is 19.46 to 1.