Etymology of the Korean currencies

The won is the currency of both North and South Korea. "Won" is a cognate of the Chinese currency unit, the yuan (圓/圆/元), and the Japanese currency unit, the yen (円; ¥), meaning "round object". The won is subdivided into 100 jeon (Korean: 전; Hanja: 錢; RR: jeon; MR: chŏn).

Yang is a former Korean currency. It is a cognate of the Chinese tael (兩; 两 pronounced "liǎng" in Mandarin). The yang was subdivided into 100 fun (푼) (pronounced "pun" but spelt with an "f" on the coins). Fun is a cognate of the Chinese word fen (分; fēn), referring to 1/100 of a Chinese yuan in modern context.

History

Due to interchanging Chinese and Japanese influences, changing Romanization methods, and the use of both hanja (Sino-Korean characters) and hangul scripts, the etymology can be hard to understand.

From 1892 to 1902, when the yang was used, 1 hwan/won (圜 = 圓 in Chinese) = 5 yang (兩), while in the Chinese monetary system of that time, 1 yuan (圓) = 0.72 tael (兩).

In 1902, the Dai-Ichi Bank (The First National Bank of Japan), which handled the Korean government's custom duties, obtained permission from the imperial Korean government to issue banknotes in yen replacing yang.[1]

The table below summarizes the language used on the modern circulating and historical Korean currencies.

PeriodSubunitMain unitSuper unitNote
EnglishHanjaHangulRatioEnglishHanjaHangulEnglishHanjaHangulRatio
1892-1902fun分푼1/100yang兩냥hwan圜환5
1902-1910chon錢전1/100won圓원None1 won = 10 yang of the previous period
1902-1945sen錢N/A1/100yen圓N/ANone1 yen = 1 won = 10 yang
Due to the Japanese rule, the English transliterations were based on Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters.
North Korea
1945–present		chon錢전1/100won圓원None1 won = 1 yen in 1945
1 new won = 1 old won in 1959.
Use of Hanja disappeared after 1959
South Korea
1945-1953		chon錢전1/100won圓원None1 won = 1 yen
South Korea
1953-1962		chon錢전1/100hwan圜환None1 hwan = 100 won of the previous period
South Korea
1962–present		jeon錢전1/100wonN/A[2]원None1 won = 10 hwan of the previous period
Bold = what was actually printed on the notes or engraved on the coins

Use in the Western World

The word jeon is also used in Korean to translate the word "cent," and in this context is associated with bul (불, 弗), meaning "dollar." (The hanja character resembles the symbol "$".) These two words are used by Koreans living in the Western hemisphere when referring to dollar currencies.

Sign and computing

The won sign ("₩", a capital W with a horizontal stroke) is represented in Unicode at the code point 20A9 (8361 in decimal).

See also

References
  1. Mun, U-Sik; Yi, Yŏng-sŏp (2012). Asian Monetary Integration: Coping with a New Monetary Order After the Global Crisis. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-1781009154.
  2. Bank of Korea. "화폐 < 홍보교육자료 < 우리나라 화폐단위 변경 | 한국은행 홈페이지. #1" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2012-11-24. 한글로만 표기" → Translation: "Spelling in hangul only
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