The South Korean won (currency code: KRW) is the official currency
of South Korea. Each won (원) is subdivided into 100 jeon (전).
The symbol for the won is ₩ and the word is similar to the (Chinese) yuan and (Japanese) yen and means
'round object' probably to represent the round Spanish and Mexican silver coins of the 19th century. Between 1910 and
1945, the currency in Korea was the Korean yen, which was at par with the Japanese yen, but specifically issued for Korea.
Both the South Korean and North Korean won (Korean people's won) use the same symbol.