“New Look” for Notes – First in 20 Years

Following paper money, checks and notes are also changing in size and design. Measures to prevent counterfeiting and altering these notes will also be improved.

The new checks and notes will be out in the market early next year at the earliest. This is the first time in 20 years for checks and notes to have new designs.

According to the Bank of Korea and the Korean Federation of Banks, on August 29, credit department heads of 22 financial institutions held a Committee on Deposit Business meeting within the Korean Federation of Banks and decided on a change of the size and design of cashier’s checks, checks, personal checks, promissory bills, and others.

Unlike the 1,000 won, 5,000 won, and 10,000 won bank notes, the design and size can only be changed following the decision by the Committee on Deposit Business.

Currently the notes are 157 mm by 71 mm. The note will become longer horizontally and slimmer to 160 mm by 68 mm.

This change was made following the new paper money that will be introduced early next year.

The new bank notes will all be 68 mm in width with differences in length across. The 1,000 won note will be 136 mm, 5,000 won will be 142 mm, and 10,000 won will be 148 mm. The new checks and notes will be printed with CSI ink, so the colors will change according to the direction it is viewed, and will be easy to tell if they have been copied or altered with a color copier or a high resolution scanner.

It has been pointed out that the genuineness of a note is difficult to ascertain since the hidden picture of the rose of Sharon, the national flower, in the original notes are all located in different places according to note denomination. Therefore, in the new notes, the hidden rose of Sharon will all be printed in the same spot on all notes.

Ma Sang-cheon, the head of the Deposit and Trust Business Team of the Korean Federation of Banks, said, “The new checks and notes will probably be used in about six months, when the remaining stock of current checks and notes are all utilized.”

Kyung-Joon Chung news91@donga.com