South Korean Won

The won or the Korean Republic Won is the currency of South Korea. The won is abbreviated with the sign ₩. It is divided into 100 jeon.
The South Korean won was initially pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 15 won = 1 dollar. A series of devaluations followed, the later ones in part due to the Korean War.
In 1946, the Bank of Joseon introduced 10 and 100 won notes. These were followed in 1949 by 5 and 1000 won notes.
The first South Korean won was replaced by the hwan on February 15, 1953 at a rate of 1 hwan = 100 won.
The won was reintroduced on June 10, 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.
The banknotes come in the denominations of 1000, 5000, 10 000 and 50 000 won and coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10 , 50, 100 and 500 won.