Korean currency
In 1902, won was introduced as the official currency unit replacing yang at 1 won = 5 yang. The bank of Korea was established 1909 but soon after in 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korean Empire. Under Colonial rule, the country was made to use the currency unit "yen" in the name of Korean yen, which took over the Korean won at par. After the division of Korea, the state of South Korea was established and recognized in 1948, and won was again made the official currency of the new state. "jeon" was made the subunit of the currency that divided it into 100 equal parts. Bank of Joseon issued the currency for independent South Korea for the first time that too in banknotes only.
North Korean won
Since 2001, the North Korean government has abandoned the iconic rate of 2.16 won to the dollar (which is said to have been based upon Kim Jong-il's birthday, February 16) and banks in the country now issue at rates closer to the black market rate. More recent official rates have shown the North Korean won () to be ₩129.559 to the US dollar. However, rampant inflation has been eroding the North Korean won value. A report by defectors from North Korea claimed that the black market rate was ₩570 to the Chinese yuan (or about ₩4,000 per U.S. dollar) in June 2009. As of December 6, 2018, xe.com, a website that publishes mid-market currency exchange rates, lists the exchange rate at ₩900.073 to US$1.00.