Won or Lose

Has anyone noticed the vast amounts of won it takes to purchase anything in kdramas? For the initiated, won is the official currency in Korea. A single won is divided into 100 Jeon; but believe me, with the amount of won one needs to buy anything, I won’t ever need to have any Jeon on hand.

A single won equals O.00078 to the US dollar. (You do the math. It was never my strong suit, which is why I’m writing a blog instead of dealing with high finance.) For this reason, people need basketfuls of won to buy anything, and why, in Kdramas, no one bats an eye when something costs one million won.

I’m surprised the Korean government hasn’t redenominated (yes, that’s a real word) the won so one doesn’t need a masters degree in higher math to figure things out, but I’m sure they have their reason. I’m keen to get to Korea next year and see what real money looks like. Actually, I’m hoping they still have real money. With our youth oriented society, everyone pays via VENMO or Apple Pay now. An example of this: when I tried to give my daughter $300 in cash, instead of saying ‘Thank you,’ she demanded, ‘What do you want me to do with THIS? Mom, no one uses money anymore’!!

When I get there, I’m determined to show them how old I am and use cash as much as possible. Wait! Then I’ll have to use their ATM machines! I feel a conundrum in the making, or at least a giant learning curve. To be continued…

Judy here. I keep my phone nearby and constantly ask google '1 million won in USD' or whatever... (the answer is just less than $800.) You'd think by now I could do the math in my head but you would be incorrect....I always have to check! (That 50,000 won bill you see here is about $39.)