Money during the Korean War - 1950-52

7. South Korean 1000 Won

This is the money issued by the South Korean Government. In 1950-51 while I was there the exchange rate was 6,000 Won to the U.S. Dollar. This new money replaced the prewar money and has a picture of Syngman Rhee, the President of South Korea on it. I found it interesting that it has no Korean writing on it but uses Chinese Characters. One of these is worth 16.6 cents U.S. It took 1,000 to get a haircut. A man's wages was 1,000 a day in those days. We used a lot of people to carry things up the hills we had radio stations on. The army would issue me a 1,000,000 Won at a time to pay the men. That is a stack about 3-4 inches high. I had to learn Korean so to prevent paying them more than once a day.