10 000 Won

This is the first 10,000 Won note issued by the Bank of Korea — the denomination itself was new, introduced in 1973 as South Korea's industrial expansion began pushing transaction volumes beyond what lower denominations could practically handle. The timing tracks closely with the early years of Park Chung-hee's Heavy and Chemical Industry drive, which was formally announced that same year.

Production at just over twelve million pieces is modest for a new high-denomination flagship note, and the sole security feature — a watermark — reflects the relatively limited anti-counterfeiting infrastructure available domestically at the time. Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation had only been operating independently for a few years when this note was produced.