Korean won currency converter

Which rate this converter uses

The Export-Import Bank of Korea publishes a table of exchange rates once every Korean business day. This page uses the base rate from that table, which sits in the middle between the bank's buying and selling rates. It is a reference figure: nobody sells currency to travellers at exactly this rate, but it is the fairest single number for comparing prices.

The Japanese yen and the Indonesian rupiah are published per 100 units. The converter divides those two rates so that every currency on this page is expressed per single unit, and the tables start from amounts that make sense for each currency.

Why the amount you receive will be different

Banks, airport counters and licensed money changers buy and sell currency at rates on either side of the base rate. The gap between their rate and the base rate is their margin, and it varies a lot between counters. Card payments are converted by your card network and the bank that issued your card, on the day the payment settles, and some banks add a foreign transaction fee on top.

A simple way to use this page: when a counter shows its rate, compare it with the base rate here. The closer the two numbers are, the less you are paying for the exchange. Treat every figure on this page as a middle value for planning and checking quotes, not as an amount anyone has promised you.

When the rate changes

A new rate appears on Korean business days, in the late morning Korea time. Nothing is published on weekends or Korean public holidays, so the page keeps the most recent business day's rate and shows its date above the tables. After a long break such as Chuseok or the Lunar New Year, that date can be several days old; this is expected and not an error.

The source is checked automatically every day. The line under the converter shows two times: when the data last changed and when the source was last checked. If the checks ever stop, the older date stays visible instead of being replaced by today's date.

The Taiwan dollar

The Export-Import Bank of Korea does not publish a rate for the New Taiwan dollar. For TWD this page takes the US dollar to Taiwan dollar rate from Exchange Rate API, a separate provider, and combines it with the bank's won rate for the US dollar. The result follows the market closely, but it is a calculated cross rate rather than an official Korean quotation, and the two sources are updated at different times of day.

Paying for things in Korea

International credit and debit cards are accepted in most shops, restaurants, hotels and taxis in cities. Cash is still useful at street food stalls, some traditional market stalls and for topping up a transit card at station machines. If a card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency instead of won, choosing won usually avoids a second conversion with its own margin.

When you compare a price tag with the tables above, remember that prices in Korea already include value-added tax. If you shop at a store that offers tax refunds, the tax refund calculator on this site estimates how much of that tax you could get back.