1000 won KRW #492

Front

Yi Hwang (Toegye) (1501-1570), one of the most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty. Known by his pen name Toegye, he was a leading Neo-Confucian philosopher, educator, and poet who profoundly influenced Korean intellectual history. He established the Dosan Seowon academy and his philosophical writings, particularly on the Four-Seven debate, shaped East Asian Confucian thought for centuries.

Back

Dosan Seowon, the Confucian academy founded by Yi Hwang in 1574 (posthumously completed by his disciples) in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. The academy served as a center of Neo-Confucian learning and became one of the most important educational institutions of the Joseon period. The scene shows the traditional Korean architecture of the academy complex surrounded by pine trees, with a rain gauge (Cheugugi) depicted at left - an early scientific instrument reflecting Yi Hwang's scholarly interests.

History

This note belongs to the third series of Bank of Korea banknotes, issued between 1983 and 2002. The 1000 won denomination featuring Yi Hwang was introduced on June 11, 1983, as part of a redesign that featured historical Korean scholars. The front inscription reads 'Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea' in Korean. This series remained in circulation until being replaced by new security-enhanced designs in 2007. The serial number format with prefix letters followed by seven digits was standard for this era of Korean banknotes. No documented serial-year encoding system is known for Bank of Korea notes of this period.