Commemorative Banknotes for Pyeongchang Olympics Prove Popular

Staff of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation pose with commemorative W2,000 bills for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in their office in Daejeon.

Commemorative W2,000 banknotes printed to mark the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang have been a huge hit.

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A total of 2.3 million of the bills sold out less than two weeks after they were issued in November last year, the first time the country has marked a specific event with paper money rather than coins.

Sets of 24 bills costing W168,000 were snapped up in three days. Some were traded at W700,000 to W800,000 (US$1=W1,064).

The front features images of seven Winter Olympic sports -- one of each member federation sport of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations. Among ice skating, the speed skating was chosen over short track skating, the discipline in which Korea is a powerhouse.

"Speed skating was the first Winter Olympic sport in which Korea participated in 1948", said Jeon Young-yul, the head of Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation's design center. "We wanted to show the country's Olympic history".

Its back features images of a tiger, symbolizing Korea, and pine trees drawn by Kim Hong-do, a renowned Chosun Dynasty painter.