Two Chochungdo Pieces to be Used on New 5,000 Won Bill

Two Chochungdo Pieces to be Used on New 5,000 Won Bill. June. 10, 2005 06:46. by Kyung-JoonChung news91@donga.com.

Yulgok Lee Yi, a great Confucian scholar in the Joseon Dynasty, and Shin Saimdang, his mother and a famous painter, will be featured on the front and back of the 5,000 won bill, respectively.

This is because the new 5,000 won bill, which will be introduced in the first half of the next year, will have “Chochungdo” (Grass and Insects) on its back, instead of the existing Ojukheon.

On June 9, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Korea (BOK) held deliberations and approved the design for the new 5,000 won bill.

The back of the bill will include a combination of two paintings with watermelon and cockscomb, which were chosen among eight pieces of Chochungdo art drawn by Shin Saimdang.

The front side will continue to feature the portrait of Yulgok Lee Yi, but the pattern of Hyungbae (traditional insignias embroidered on the chest and back of government official dress) and the picture of an ink stone will be replaced by pictures of Mongryongsil (a room in Ojukheon and the birthplace of Yulgok Lee Yi) and black bamboo.

The traditional Korean patterns of Changho (a window frame) and patchwork will fill the background of both sides of the bill.

“In order to prevent possible counterfeiting and forgery,” said Kim Doo-gyeong, the head of the BOK’s issuing department, “[the BOK] will release the actual design of the new bill at the end of this year, when its test version will come out.”

The new 5,000 won bill will be 142mm wide and 68mm long, 14mm in width and 8mm in length smaller than the current bill.