Fake bills in S. Korea down 22.3 pct in Q1

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes discovered nationwide fell 22.3 percent on-year in the first quarter as the circulation of new currency with stronger anti-forgery features climbed, the central bank said Tuesday.

The number of counterfeit bills found in the country reached 3,024 in the
January-March period, compared with 3,890 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 5,000-won bills decreased 39.4 percent to 1,512 and that of
counterfeit 1,000-won notes fell 52.3 percent to 41. But the number of fake
10,000-won bills found nationwide rose 12.2 percent on-year to 1,471.
The counterfeit bills found in the capital Seoul accounted for 52.9 percent of
the total, the central bank said.