Bank of Korea counterfeit banknote seizures surge 20-fold

The volume of counterfeit banknotes seized by the Bank of Korea from investigative agencies surged significantly last year. According to data provided by Rep. Ahn Sang-hoon, the number of counterfeit notes rose to 9,716, a 20-fold increase from the previous year, while the total value jumped over 100-fold to approximately 476 million won.

Nearly 97.7% of these notes were 50,000 won denominations. This spike is largely attributed to a major incident in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, where a group was caught attempting to exchange 9,188 counterfeit 50,000 won notes, produced via color printers, for virtual assets.

Despite these figures, counterfeit currency sales remain active on social media platforms like Telegram and KakaoTalk. Critics have pointed out that the Bank of Korea’s current response is limited to providing identification tips. A mobile application designed to help identify fake notes, which has cost approximately 100 million won to develop, reportedly sees an average of only seven active users per day.