The currency of South Korea is called won (원) and is traded worldwide. It's ISO 4217 code is KRW and the Latinized symbol for won is ₩.

Korean won is distributed in paper bills and coins and changes quite often to protect from frequent counterfeiting. Bills come in only 3 denominations.

₩1000 (approx. $1 US), ₩5000, and ₩10000

Coins are broken up into 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 won, although the 1 and 5 won coins aren't in circulation anymore.

Cheques are also issued by banks for ₩100,000 (seeing as the largest bill is ₩10000). These cheques can be used anywhere, like cash, although sometimes a small service fee is charged (especially if used out of the city they're issued in). To cash a cheque you'll need Korean ID or an Alien Registration ID card.

If you need to use a bank machine, check our "Banking in Korea" section for help.