W939 Mln in Damaged Currency Notes Exchanged

The value of bills exchanged with the government after being burned, contaminated or damaged by floods last year reached 939 million won (834,295 U.S. dollars), the Bank of Korea said yesterday.

The amount of destroyed bills exchanged at the bank jumped 23.1 percent from 2008, when the figure was 763 million won (565,185 dollars). The number of exchanges grew 13.6 percent from a year ago to 5,245.

By type of bill, the 10,000 won note accounted for 86.7 percent worth 814 million won (723,234 dollars) and the 50,000 won bill, which debuted in June last year, comprised 8.3 percent worth 78 million won (69,302 dollars).

Exchange because of burning accounted for 55.6 percent of the cases worth 522 million won (463,793 dollars); those damaged by humidity comprised 16.1 percent worth 151 million won (134,162 dollars); and those pressed under floors made up 12.3 percent and 116 million won (103,065 dollars).

A bank official said, “Even if a bill is burned, it can be exchanged if more than three-fourths of the bill remains. It is important to bring damaged bills to the central bank as they are.”

weappon@donga.com