Issued to mark the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, the first time South Korea hosted a major multi-sport international event and a deliberate rehearsal for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The government commissioned an extensive commemorative coin program across both events as part of a broader campaign to signal South Korea's arrival as a modern industrialized nation — a message directed as much at domestic audiences as foreign ones.
Issued to mark the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, the first time South Korea hosted a major multi-sport international event and a deliberate rehearsal for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The government commissioned an extensive commemorative coin program across both events as part of a broader campaign to signal South Korea's arrival as a modern industrialized nation — a message directed as much at domestic audiences as foreign ones.