South Korea’s central bank received 9,716 counterfeit notes from investigators in 2025

South Korea’s Bank of Korea received 9,716 counterfeit or altered banknotes from investigative agencies in 2025.

Their face value was about 477 million won, more than 100 times the 4.63 million won recorded in 2024.

Nearly 98% of the notes were 50,000-won bills.

A large counterfeit operation had been uncovered in Asan in 2024, where a group made thousands of fake 50,000-won notes and tried to exchange them for cryptocurrency.

The figures come from information given by the central bank to lawmaker Ahn Sang-hoon.

A check by Ahn’s office also found more than 10 social media posts offering counterfeit notes, with messaging accounts listed to contact sellers.

Ahn criticized the central bank’s response, noting that its updated identification app averaged about seven daily active users over the following year; no further action was specified.