500 Tenge Korean fairy tale - The legend of Tangun

Tangun is the mythological founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, said to have been born of a heavenly father and a bear-woman who endured 100 days in a cave eating only garlic and mugwort to take human form. The story dates in written form to the 13th-century Samguk Yusa. Kazakhstan's interest in the myth connects to broader Silk Road cultural diplomacy — the country has issued several coins linking Central Asian and East Asian legendary traditions, a program that reflects the shared nomadic and shamanistic heritage both cultures claim.