50,000 Won Bill to be Issued in June

The new 50,000-won bill is to be issued on June 24.

The new banknote will be 154 millimeters in width and 68 millimeters in length.

The yellow-toned currency will feature Shin Saim-dang, a renowned female writer and calligraphist who was the mother of Yulgok. Yulgok is currently featured on the 5,000-won banknote and was one of the most respected scholars of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).

Once in circulation, the note is expected to make a positive impact in day-to-day transactions. Currently, the 10,000-won bill is the highest-denomination.

Why print a new currency?

A common complaint has been that people have to carry too many bills. Though 100,000-won checks have been used as substitutes for high-denominated bank notes, they incur issuance fees and have proven inconvenient.

Banks will upgrade or replace automated teller machines (ATMs) so that they accept the new bills. It will cost over 30 million won each to replace old ATMs and over six million won to upgrade them.

Department stores are also likely to be affected. Gift coupons have been popular items as gifts. But with the new 50,000-won bills, it has been suggested that most people will choose to use them instead of department store coupons.

Economic Downturn Corks Wine Popularity

Koreans love wine. Not just ordinary or cheap wine BUT EXPENSIVE WINE. But now, bottles of fine "vino" are being marked down on everything-must-go sales.

Why?

The economic downturn is the main reason. Sales are declining because people tend to turn to more economic choices.

Shinsegae, Lotte and Hyundai, the country's top three department stores that each run a sizeable wine shop, said that wine sales from January to March have sunk about 5 percent on-year.

This is a sharp turnaround compared to the solid two-digit growth the largely imported products have been showing over the past three years.

Moon Jae-yong, manager of the wine shop at Lotte Depaartment Store, explained that the weak Korean won has driven up prices by almost 25 percent this year alone, pushing away even consumers who've enjoyed the less-expensive selections.

And the ongoing sales decline is piling up inventory ― so much that retailers are offering discounts of up to 90 percent.

Lotte recently introduced 600 different types of wines from around the world at prices 35 to 80 percent cheaper than usual. Even the most high-end labels from France were marked down by 50 percent.

Lotte's competitors Shinsegae and Hyundai seem to have deployed the same trick, as they too slashed prices dramatically.

But despite the blowout bargains, consumers don't seem to be excited about popping the cork.

Such consumer patterns of avoiding wine bars have led dozens of once popular wine bars to go out of business in downtown Seoul districts.

eBay Inc. Signs Deal to Buy Gmarket

eBay Inc. already owns Internet Auction Co. Now, it is going to buy Gmarket, the biggest Korean online retailer.

eBay Inc. signed a deal Thursday to buy a 34.21 percent stake in Gmarket Inc., for $413 million, Yonhap News reported Thursday.

The deal calls for eBay, the world's largest Web auctioneer, to buy the stake from Interpark Corp., which runs a separate online mall, and its chief executive officer, the sources said.

eBay's South Korean unit, Internet Auction Co., has been competing with Gmarket, its bigger South Korean rival. Gmarket's sales reached 3.98 trillion won ($3.02 billion) last year.

The two companies account for about 90 percent of online shopping in South Korea, and have a combined total of more than 15.4 million registered users.

eBay has reportedly been in talks with Interpark to buy an interest in Gmarket since August 2008, when it filed for approval from the South Korean government for the deal. eBay got the nod a month later.