Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The won is generally seen to be a stable currency, but it tends to take a beating whenever
there's a significant regional or global economic crisis. From late 2008 to early 2009, for
example, it shed around 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar before beginning a
slow recovery. It's currently hovering around the 1,100 per dollar level, roughly in line with
economist surveys that suggest its “true” level is in the 900-1,100 per dollar range. Foreign
exchange authorities are not above intervening in the market to strengthen the won when
they feel it's under attack or to keep the currency relatively cheap to help out the coun-
try's exporters. There's little you can do to shield yourself totally from exchange rate fluc-
tuations, but some expatriates request a mixed won-home currency salary for this reason or
open up a foreign-currency account with a bank like KEB.
FAMOUS FACES
The faces that adorn South Korea's currency are a good insight into the country's
values. Rather than contemporary figures, philosophers and scholars drawn from the
mists of history take precedence over presidents or warlords.
• 1,000 won: Yi Hwang (1501-1570), prominent Confucian scholar who established
the Dosan Seowon, a private academy that still exists today.
• 5,000 won: Yi I (1536-1584), another Confucian scholar renowned as a politician
and social reformer.
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