"When I got 500 yen, it was 500 won"."Coin fraud" in Japan.

500 yen in Japan and 500 won in Korea are mixed / X (X) Capture

This has become a problem for people who use Korean won coins instead of 500 yen (about W4,500) coins in Japan.

Japanese TV Asahi recently reported that caution is required due to the problem of mixing Japanese currency.

A bathhouse in Tokyo recently posted a photo of a 500 won coin mixed between 500 yen coins on social media.

The owner of the bathhouse said, "It looks like a 500-yen coin," adding, "I didn't know that this coin was Korean money. 500 won is about 50 yen when I checked it at the value of one-tenth of the Japanese yen, which is disappointing," he said.

The diameter of both 500 yen in Japan and 500 won in Korea is 26.5mm. The 500 won weighs 7.7g, the 500 yen is 7.0g for the old book, and 7.1g for the new book issued from 2021. For this reason, it is not easy to distinguish the difference if it is not properly caught with the eyes.

In the past, there was a problem that if a 500 won coin was inserted into a Japanese vending machine, it was recognized as 500 yen. There have also been frequent cases of Korean tourists exploiting it. Japanese police seized 14,000 won coins illegally circulated in 1997.

Earlier this year, there was an online story that Japan received 100 won in exchange for 100 yen coins.

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team