KOMSCO holds 'minting Olympics'

Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. (KOMSCO) CEO Cho Yong-man, fifth from left, poses for photo with officials who attended the 30th Mint Directors Conference (MDC) at the Grand Intercontinental Parnas hotel in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Monday. From fourth left are Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Kim Yong-jin, Cho, MDC Chairman Patchara Anuntasilpa of Thailand and Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid. / Courtesy of KOMSCO

By Nam Hyun-woo

Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. (KOMSCO) said Monday it is holding the 30th Mint Directors Conference (MDC), a worldwide conference of minting industry experts.

The four-day conference, from Monday to Thursday, is a biennial gathering of mint directors, manufacturers of coins, retailers and other stakeholders from 46 minting agencies in 42 countries.

It is commonly described as “the Olympics of minting” in the industry where experts discuss the current legal, economic, technological and numismatic issues related to currency and its circulation.

This year's conference is being attended by 300 experts including CEOs of minting agencies in the United States, Australia, Austria, Germany, France, China, Thailand and the Republic of South Africa. Thailand's Royal Thai Mint was the host of the 29th MDC in 2016.

The program will feature a directors meeting, technical and marketing sessions, and coin design and packaging competitions.

During the conference, the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corp., the Singapore Mint and Poongsan Corp., a Korean producer of copper products, each set up a booth to showcase their currency-related products.

This is KOMSCO's second hosting of the MDC, following 2008. KOMSCO said the hosting of this year's event proves its competitiveness and status in the global minting industry.

For this year's coin design competition, KOMSCO will present its commemorative coin for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, as well as showcasing Tiger Bullion Series and Chiwoo Cheonwang Bullion Medals.

At MDCs, KOMSCO won “the Most Beautiful Coin” award with its 2002 FIFA World Cup Commemorative Coin. It also won “the Most Technically Advanced Coin” with Commemorative Coin for Hangeul Day in 2008, and claimed two wins in best packaging awards in 2010 and 2016.

“Korea's minting and printing technology has a competitive edge that leads the global industry,” a KOMSCO official said. “We believe this year's hosting of an MDC will help promoting the country's technology in the world.”

KOMSCO was founded in 1951 as the sole manufacturer of Korea currency and has since been exporting its technologies overseas. In December, it struck a deal with Iran to supply 5 million integrated circuit chipsets for use in National Identity Cards in the Middle Eastern country.