10 Won Taekwondo

North Korea issued a series of collector-focused aluminum pieces in the early 2000s under hard-currency programs designed to generate foreign exchange revenue — coins like this one were never intended for domestic circulation and were sold abroad through state trading companies. Taekwondo's inclusion reflects Pyongyang's long-standing effort to assert the martial art's Korean origins against South Korean and international claims, a cultural argument that ran parallel to the sport's 2000 Olympic debut in Sydney.