Korea's Central bank unveils new 50,000 won bill

The Bank of Korea Wednesday (Feb. 25) unveiled a 50,000-won (approx. US$33) bill depicting a female Korean artist and calligrapher of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

The woman is Sin Saimdang (1504-1551), who is often referred to as a model of Confucian ideals. She is also the mother of Yulgok, one　 of the two most prominent Korean neo-Confucian scholars, along with Toegye.

The bill's draft design, revealed by the central bank in Dec. 2007, went through a year-long period of modification based on experts' advice, the bank said. The 50,000-won bill will be issued to the public from June

On the front side, the bill has Sin's portrait and part of her famous drawings of grapes and branches. Sin's portrait was drawn based on experts' accounts and records of her description made during her lifetime.

On the reverse is drawn a combination of two renowned Joseon artworks, which, according to the bank, represent mid-Joseon period paintings.

The length of the new bill is 6 millimeters more than that of the 10,000-won bill, but the width is the same.

The 50,000-won bill, the largest denomination banknote in Korea, has many state-of-the-art anti-forgery devices.

By James Ro
Korea.net Staff Writer