Fake bills in S. Korea down 1.5 pct in 2008

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes
discovered nationwide fell 1.5 percent on-year in 2008 as the circulation of new
banknotes with stronger anti-forgery features increased, the central bank said
Tuesday.
The number of counterfeit bills found in the country reached 15,448 last year,
compared with 15,678 a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.
The country issued new versions of the 1,000-won note, the smallest denomination,
and the 10,000-won bill, the highest denomination, with anti-forgery features in
late January 2007, after issuing new 5,000-won notes in early 2006.
The number of fake 10,000-won bills found nationwide declined 31 percent on-year
to 5,825 and that of counterfeit 1,000-won ones fell 38.9 percent to 372. But the
number of fake 5,000-won bills increased 39.5 percent to 9,251, most of which
were copies of banknotes issued before the new version was released.
About 47.9 percent of the counterfeit bills were found in the capital Seoul, the
central bank said.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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