If you are traveling to South Korea and want to purchase goods, it would be a good idea to become familiar with Korean money. Are you familiar with Korean money? If not, this post will be helpful when you make a trip to Korea in the future. This post will cover Korean bills (banknotes) and their amounts.

The official monetary unit in South Korea is 원 (won), and this ₩ symbol represents 원. For example, you can either write down the amount as 삼천 원 (three thousand won) in words or ₩3,000 with the symbol.

Let’s test your knowledge on Korean bills, first. When you are ready, you can check your answers and their relative amount in dollars according to the current exchange rate, which will help you to expand your understanding on Korean bills.

Are you ready to test your knowledge on Korean Bills?

1. What is the name of this bill, and how much is it worth?

 

2. What is the name of this bill, and how much is it worth?

                                         

3. What is the name of this bill, and how much is it worth?

                                         

4. What is the name of this bill, and how much is it worth?

                                         

 

When you are ready, you can check your answers in the below.

1. 천 원 (₩ 1,000 -one thousand won) – close to $1
2. 오천 원 (₩ 5,000 – five thousand won) – close to $5
3. 만 원 (₩ 10,000 – ten thousand won) – close to $10
4. 오만 원 (₩ 50,000 – fifty thousand won) – close to $50

The Sino Korean numbers are used to talk about money. If you are not familiar with Korean numbering system or need to review them, please follow this link to help with your understanding of Korean Numbers, SOS: Help with Numbers and Counters. 천 means a thousand, and 만 means ten thousand, so in order to talk about Korean bills,

1. Sino Korean Number + 천 + 원

Ex) ₩ 1,000 = *천 원, ₩ 2,000 = 이천 원, ₩ 3,000 = 삼천 원, and so on.

* When you talk about ₩ 1,000, just say  “천 원” instead of 일천 원.

2. Sino Korea Number + 만 + 원

Ex) ₩ 10,000 = *만 원, ₩ 20,000 = 이만 원, ₩ 30,000 = 삼만 원, and so on.

* When you talk about ₩ 10,000, just say “만 원” instead of 일만 원.

Depending on the amount of money, there are singular and plural forms of “dollar” in English. However, in Korean this word 원 is used for both singular and plural forms. One useful tip, 오천 원 and오만 원 are similar in color, so I would recommend you to pay close attention to them in order to avoid their mix-ups especially at night time.

감사합니다! (Thank you!)

 ***Related Vocabulary***

1. 원 (won): the official monetary unit in South Korea
2. 천 원 (₩ 1,000 – one thousand won)
3. 이천 원 (₩ 2,000 – two thousand won)
4. 삼천 원 ((₩ 3,000 – three thousand won)
5. 오천 원 (₩ 5,000 – five thousand won)
6. 만 원 (₩ 10,000 – ten thousand won)
7. 이만 원 (₩ 20,000 – twenty thousand won)
8. 삼만 원 (₩ 30,000 – thirty thousand won)
9. 오만 원 (₩ 50,000 – fifty thousand won)

Ready to learn Korean with us? Try Transparent Language Online for free for 14 days!