Ye Olde Chosun reports that the plan to release a new 100,000 won banknote early next year has been suspended because — are you sitting down for this — the map on the back doesn’t have Dokdo.
The bill has Korean independence fighter Baekbeom Kim Gu on the front, and on the back is the Daedongyeojido, an 1861 map of Korea by Joseon-era cartographer Kim Jeong-ho.
The problem, however, is that the map did not mark Dokdo, and for the last three months, people have been arguing over whether to draw the islets in. The Foreign Ministry is taking the position that drawing in Dokdo on a map that didn’t originally have it could spark questions about authenticity, but others are arguing that — taking into consideration public sentiment — the islets must be drawn. Still others called for another map — only this time, one that includes Dokdo — be used, or another pattern all together be adopted. These latter suggestions, however, were not adopted.
Some conservative groups, too, object to having Kim Gu’s face on the front, suggesting instead that late President Park Chung-hee be used.
At any rate, a Cheong Wa Dae official said that it has asked the Bank of Korea to provisionally suspend plans to issue the new 100,000 won banknote until a final decision about the bill design is reached.
Which sucks, of course — given the way the exchange rate is going, we might need 100,000 won banknotes to buy a can of coffee soon.
But fear not — the 50,000 won bill will reportedly be issued as scheduled.
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Park Chung-hee? Are you kidding me?
If Koreans want to use an old map with Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo) on it, they will have to use either an old Japanese or Western map because Korea has no old maps that show Dokdo, by any name.
Screw Kim Gu and Park Chung-hee. They are both a part of Korean history but then their is no accounting for taste or quality of character — both of which are missing from this process.
Those making the selection should have put someone much better like Ahn Chang-ho on the bill if they had any sense of history but they have been too busy playing “Spot the Japanese Collaborator” or “up my politics”.
Well, since the astrolabe on the new man-note is Chinese, what’s a little cartographic adjustment among friends?
If the map was to be made large enough to scale to show the islet, I can imagine that few people could lift the bill.
I second the nomination of Ahn Chang-ho. Alas, the people have already spoken (I think the government ran an online poll or something).
Why don’t they just arrange it so the that place where Dokdo would be is just outside the margin?
Ahn Chang-ho is a good choice. Is this Dokdo issue really a plot to get Kim Gu removed?
100.000W bills may not be necessary if the Won keeps free falling. Maybe 1,000,000W notes would look better with Dope-Do on it.
Equally baffling to me is why the new bill also includes a picture of North Korea. I thought it was peculiar when the 5000 came out with North Korea included in the hologram, but having this “map”, old or not, on the back of the 100000 is ridiculous. I guess they are just trying to protect KJI’s feelings when he pops open his first crate of these babies with his next injection of South Korean cash.
When will the 50,000 be issued?
I’d imagine Park Chung-hee would be as likely as Jeon Tae-il; neither side of the political divide would want to see their opponents’ hero on the bill. As far as important people who actually shaped modern Korea, I’d choose Sin Chae-ho, seeing as his linking of the Tangun myth to the idea of minjok 100 years ago provided the ethnic nationalist lens through which Koreans view themselves today.
The way the won is tanking they should put Poong Poongi on the bill.
Kim Gu is a much better choice than Ahn Chang Ho.
Kim Gu had blood on his hands, but he did a hell of a lot more in the independence struggle than the other guy.
“I guess they are just trying to protect KJI’s feelings when he pops open his first crate of these babies with his next injection of South Korean cash.”
He probably accepts US dollars only.
#13,
Not really. They were both key figures in the Korean independence movement. Ahn was a pacifist, calling for education as a means to gain independence, while Kim ordered the creation of the Korean Liberation Army. We will never know whose plan was the better one because Japan surrendered to the US, thus liberating Korea. One thing for sure, though…Koreans still see education as a priority.
Kim Gu, despite his admirable love of Korea and its people, may have helped kill some Japanese military officials, but he changed absolutely nothing in history.
Ahn sought to create and educate the leaders that would rule and guide Korea, for future Koreans. Two of his organizations that he founded are still functioning to this day.
If they put Gu on a 50,000 Won note, then Ahn should be on the 100,000.
Drop the map idea. Let’s just make this a Dokdo-bill, with a big beautiful picture of Dokdo on the front, just like you see over those raw seafood restaurants around town. Soon everyone will be paying in Dokdos.
I for one would like to practice affirmative action for women and put Yu Guansun. No one can deny March 1 was the most significant mass independence movement in that era.
If one’s gonna make an argument that Park Chung Hee was a murdererer, then Kim Gu should be out to. One can make an argument he was a terrorist (save your breath).
It’s too late for changes but I woulda wanted to see non-controversial people that most people can agree to. I suppose one can look in science or education for that…many many qualified people.
If fake maps are good enough for the Dokdo Museum, then why not draw Dokdo on the map on the 100 000 won bill?
“But fear not — the 50,000 won bill will reportedly be issued as scheduled.”
Will mine be issued directly to my address, or do I need to go to some governmental agency to pick mine up?
And how many of these 50,000 won bills do I get?
Jeffery Hodges
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The trouble with using Kim Ku’s visage is, his archetypal portrait has him resembling nothing so much as a caricature of a Chinese waiter in a 3rd-rate BBC farce.
dokdoforever: I agree. I think Dokdo should be on the 100 000 note instead of some dead politician. Then put Baekdu Mountain and a map of Goguryeo on the 50 000 note, and either a downer cow or an armoured vehicle on the eventual 200 000 note, and Korea will have to find a new country to piss off when they go for larger denominations. (maybe a picture of the Kim Jong-il puppet from Team America: World Police) — currency is the new anti-diplomacy!
How about the map of Balhae, which includes Russia’s Primorskiy Kray?
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