3000 Won - Hwacheon County Local Gift Certificate

Hwacheon County is a rural administrative district in Gangwon Province, South Korea, and like dozens of other local governments there, it issues gift certificates redeemable only within the county — a deliberate policy to keep consumer spending from draining into larger urban centers. These local currency instruments are not legal tender and carry no backing from the Bank of Korea.

The security thread and official seal are present largely for anti-counterfeiting compliance required by the Ministry of the Interior's local gift certificate regulations, not because demand for forgeries of a 3,000-won county voucher is a serious concern.