1000 Won

This note was issued during the Korean War, when the Bank of Korea was operating under extraordinary fiscal pressure — the government had already triggered a currency crisis in 1950 by printing uncontrolled quantities of hwan to cover wartime expenditure. The 1952–1953 series was part of a broader effort to restore some structural credibility to Korean paper currency, though inflation had already badly eroded public confidence in high-denomination notes.

Printing domestically at Daejeon during active wartime operations was itself a logistical achievement. Earlier wartime issues had required foreign printing assistance.