Spike in damaged cash after South Koreans put money in ovens to rid it of coronavirus
- The Bank of Korea said a total of 2.69 trillion won (US$2.25 trillion) worth of damaged notes and coins were destroyed in the first half of 2020
- A person surnamed Um wanted to redeem at least 35.5 million won (US$30,000) in notes damaged after he had put them in the washing machine
The central bank said on Friday that people had exchanged three times as much burnt money in the past six months as in the same period last year, much of it thought to be from botched efforts to disinfect bills.
A Bank of Korea (BOK) official said that the amount of money returned to the bank after being burnt between January and June had risen to 1.32 billion won (US$1.1 billion) from 480 million won (US$400 million) in the same period last year.
“There was a considerable amount of bills being burnt in the microwave ovens in the first half of this year,” the official said, referring to efforts to prevent the coronavirus.
In a statement, the bank said overall a total of 2.69 trillion won (US$2.25 trillion) worth of damaged notes and coins were destroyed and of that it exchanged 6.5 billion won worth in the first half of 2020.