I was never a big fan of the Korean Won for one simple reason - too many zeroes. For a long time, I've thought the Korean government should lop off at least one zero now that the Korean economy has caught up with other developed nations. In my proposed system, KRW 100 would be equal to more or less $1. It'd be like the U.S. Dollar without the decimal.
Who knew that, of all people, Hugo Chavez agrees with me. The Venezuelan strongman just got rid of three zeroes in the country's currency. Here's the story from the New York Times. Of course, he's accompanying the move with another looney idea of introducing a 12.5 cent coin. Ok, that's not random. His purported reason: to fight inflation. Not sure I get the logic, but dealing with the public's mass confusion is always an important consideration in tinkering with the national currency. But I'm sure Koreans can figure it out if their government simply dropped off one zero (though I'd advise my grandma to stay away from Namdaemun market for a few months until she gets used to it). Italians did it for the Euro. Koreans can too!
- Roger in DC
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