41 Counterfeit Banknotes Found in First Half of Year... Down 34% from Previous Year

New Counterfeiting Attempts Focused on 50,000 Won Notes

A total of 41 counterfeit banknotes were discovered in South Korea during the first half of this year. This marks a 33.9% decrease compared to the same period last year.

According to the "Status of Counterfeit Banknote Discoveries in the First Half of 2026" released by the Bank of Korea on July 8, a total of 41 counterfeit banknotes were found during currency handling processes or reported to the Bank of Korea by financial institutions in the first half of this year. This represents a decrease of 21 notes compared to the same period last year (62 notes).

The number of counterfeits discovered per half-year had increased to 99 in the second half of 2024, but has since declined, with 62 found in the first half of 2025 and 41 in the second half of 2025.

The total face value of the counterfeit banknotes found this time amounted to 473,000 won, a decrease of 570,000 won compared to the same period last year. This was mainly due to the number of counterfeit 50,000 won notes falling from 15 to 5.

By denomination, counterfeit notes discovered in the first half of this year included 22 of the 5,000 won notes, 11 of the 10,000 won notes, 5 of the 50,000 won notes, and 3 of the 1,000 won notes. Most of the 5,000 won notes (17 notes) were old issues with the serial number "77246," produced by a major counterfeiter apprehended in June 2013. This figure also declined from last year (20 notes).

A total of 12 new serial numbers (unique identifiers) were identified, including 4 for the 50,000 won note, 4 for the 10,000 won note, 2 for the 5,000 won note, and 2 for the 1,000 won note. This indicates that new counterfeiting attempts are increasingly focused on higher denominations.

The proportion of counterfeit banknotes relative to the number of banknotes in circulation in South Korea has been steadily declining after a sharp decrease up to 2019. In the first half of this year, 0.6 counterfeit notes were detected per 10 million banknotes in circulation, which is significantly lower than the figures for the UK (4,229), the European Union (1,461), Canada (1,411), and Japan (8.6).

Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea awarded a special commendation from the Governor to the Icheon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province for its significant contribution to preventing the circulation of counterfeit banknotes. In November last year, the Icheon Police Station apprehended two suspects who had forged twenty 50,000 won notes and three suspects who used twelve counterfeit notes at eleven locations, including convenience stores. This was achieved through investigative interviews, mobile phone forensics, and tracking suspects' movements after receiving a report that "a banknote received at a convenience store seemed suspicious."

A Bank of Korea official stated, "Most of the confiscated counterfeit notes are characterized by mismatched serial numbers at the top left and bottom right of the front side," and urged, "If you receive such a counterfeit note, please report it to the police immediately."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.