Korean Won - KRW

Overview

The Korean Won is the official currency of South Korea. South Korea is a sovereign state in east Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. The capital and largest city is Seoul, which has a population of over 10 million people.

Economy

• South Korea has a market economy that is ranked 14th in the world by nominal GDP and 12th by purchasing power parity (PPP), which makes it one of the G-20 major economies.
• It is a developed, high-income country and is a member of the OECD. South Korea is one of the Asian tigers and is the only developed country to date have been included in the next group of eleven countries.
• South Korea had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world from the late 1960s to 1990, and remains one of the fastest-growing developed countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong , Singapore, and Taiwan. The other members of the Asian tigers refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River.
• The South Korean economy is highly dependent on international trade. In 2010, South Korea was the sixth largest exporter and the tenth largest importer.
• On November 11 and 12, 2010 South Korea hosted the fifth G20 summit in Seoul. The two-day summit was expected to boost Korea's economy by ₩ 31 trillion, or 4% of the country’s 2010 GDP and create over 160,000 jobs, as well as improve the country's sovereign credit rating.

History

• The Won has been in use for thousands of years. During the Colonial era, the Won was replaced at par by the Yen.
• In 1945, after World War II, Korea was divided, which resulted in two different currencies for the South and North, both called Won. Both wons replaced the Yen at par.
• The first South Korean Won was subdivided into 100 jeon. The Won was initially pegged to the US Dollar at a rate of 15 Won = 1 Dollar. A series of devaluations followed, the later ones due in part to the Korean War.
• In 1946, the Bank of Joseon introduced 10-won and 100-won notes. These were followed in 1949 by 5-won and 1000-won notes.
• In 1950, a new central bank, the Bank of Korea, was established and assumed the duties of the Bank of Joseon. Notes were introduced (some dated 1949) in denominations of 5, 10, and 50 jeon, as well as 100 and 1000 won. 500-won notes were introduced in 1952.
• In 1953, a series of banknotes were issued. although it gave the names of English in Won, the first numbers were, in fact, Hwan.

General Information