Fake Currency Drops 34%

A total of 4,214 fake Korean bills were checked during the first three months of this year, down 34.3 percent from a year earlier, the central bank reported Monday.

The Bank of Korea said that the sharp drop in fake bills this year is due to comparative large number last year checked at adult arcades.

However, there has not been any report on fake bank notes in arcades this year, following a nationwide crackdown on illegal video gambling in the second half, the central bank said.

In the first quarter, fake bills of 10,000 won, the highest denomination in Korean currency, more than halved to 2,012 from 4,577 a year earlier.

However, counterfeit notes of 5,000 won went up 14.2 percent to 2,045, and 1,000 won fake bills jumped five-fold to 157.

Nearly half of the counterfeit bills, or 49.4 percent of the total, were found in Seoul, the central bank said.