Sterilizing Currency with a Microwave?…Bank of Korea Says "Effect Unclear, Fire Risk Increased"

Bank of Korea "Currency Stored for 2 Weeks Due to COVID-19, New Banknote Supply Expanded"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The Bank of Korea urged, "Putting banknotes in a microwave and operating it has unclear virus disinfection effects and only increases the risk of fire, so please refrain from such actions."

On the 11th, the Bank of Korea stated, "Recently, some citizens, concerned about the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), have been putting banknotes in microwaves and operating them, resulting in damage to the banknotes."

Microwaves generated inside the microwave affect the anti-counterfeiting devices attached to the banknotes, causing ignition.

The Bank of Korea said, "There have been cases of exchanging damaged banknotes due to ignition at currency exchange counters."

The Bank of Korea exchanges the full amount if more than three-quarters of the banknote remains, exchanges half the amount if between two-fifths and less than three-quarters remains, and invalidates the banknote if less than two-fifths remains.

The Bank of Korea stated that to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through currency in circulation, banknotes collected from financial institutions are quarantined and stored in disinfected safes for at least two weeks. They also emphasized thorough classification of usable banknotes and expansion of new banknote supply.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.