20 Won 5000 Years Kochosun

Gojoseon — rendered here as "Kochosun" in older DPRK romanization — is the legendary Korean kingdom said to have been founded in 2333 BC by Tangun, a figure central to Korean nationalist mythology and one the North Korean state has instrumentalized heavily since the 1990s. In 1993, Pyongyang announced the alleged discovery of Tangun's tomb near the capital, a claim rejected by virtually every archaeologist outside the DPRK.

This brass commemorative was issued as part of a broad series celebrating Korean antiquity, produced primarily for the export collector market rather than domestic circulation.