Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Scrapped banknotes could tower 77 times height of Mount Everest: BOK
Stacks of new 50,000-won banknotes prepared for the Chuseok holiday cash supply sit at the Bank of Korea’s currency storage facility in central Seoul, Sept. 30. Joint Press Corps
By Yi Whan-woo
More than 13.5 trillion won ($9.58 billion) worth of damaged or contaminated banknotes and coins have been discarded over the past four and a half years, with the volume of destroyed banknotes alone large enough to tower 77 times higher than Mount Everest, data showed Friday.
The large-scale disposal of paper bills is raising particular concern, as it costs the Bank of Korea (BOK) hundreds of millions of won to incinerate damaged notes — unlike coins, which generate revenue when sold to recycling companies.
According to data obtained by Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party from the BOK, the central bank destroyed a total of 1.96 billion units of currency from 2021 to June 2025. The combined face value amounts to 13.56 trillion won.
Of the total, paper bills made up the majority — 1.65 billion notes worth 13.52 trillion won — while 307 million coins, worth 38.6 billion won, were also discarded.
The number of destroyed currency items totaled 403 million in 2021, 413 million in 2022, 484 million in 2023, 475 million in 2024, and 189 million in the first half of 2025.
The slight drop in overall volume from 2023 to 2024 was attributed to a decline in cash usage.
Still, the sheer scale of disposed banknotes remains significant.
If stacked vertically, all the destroyed banknotes over the period would reach a height of 679,292 meters — equivalent to 77 times the height of Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849 meters, or 1,224 times the height of the Lotte World Tower, which measures 555 meters, the BOK explained.
If laid end to end, the notes would stretch 244,737 kilometers, enough to cover the 415-kilometer Gyeongbu Expressway, the country's main transportation artery, passing through major cities like Suwon, Daejeon, Gumi, and Daegu, back and forth 295 times.
“This is problematic because the central bank must pay disposal fees to incinerate paper currency, while discarded coins can generate profit through sales to non-ferrous metal recycling firms,” said Rep. Park, who serves on the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee.
The BOK spent a total of 420 million won to incinerate damaged banknotes over the 4.5-year period.
Meanwhile, the volume of coins discarded surged in 2024, reaching 102 million — nearly double the 57 million discarded in 2023. Despite the increase, coin disposal brought in 19.91 billion won in revenue from 2021 to mid-2025.