The new banknotes will carry pictures of the same historical figures -- King Sejong who created the Hangul or Korean alphabet for the W10,000 bills and Confucian scholar Yi Hwang from the Chosun Dynasty for W1,000 bills -- but other images will change.

For the W10,000 bill, the current pictures of an official uniform pattern from the Chosun period and a water clock will be replaced by a folding screen for Chosun-era kings painted with the sun, the moon, five mountain peaks, pines and waterfalls, and text from the second chapter of Yongbieocheonga, the first work of literature written in Korean.

The picture in the reverse will change from Gyeonghoeru, a resting pavilion in Gyeongbok Palace, to a celestial globe from the Chosun period.

An official uniform pattern and tuho, a game tool, on the front of W1,000 bill will be replaced by ume flowers and Myeongryundang, a school lecture hall, and Dosan Sewon, a Confucian academy, on the back to Gyesangjeonggeodo, a picture of Yi Hwang reading a book in his study (National Treasure No. 585).

(englishnews@chosun.com )