A South Korean person found out the hard way that washing money is a bad idea when that person put banknotes in a washing machine to remove possible traces COVID-19, as per a report in AP.?
Officials say the individual lost a lot of cash.?
The person living in Ansan city, near Seoul, placed an unspecified amount of 50,000-won (USD 42) bills in a washing machine earlier this year. Some of the money was seriously damaged, and the person reached out to the Bank of Korea to find whether it could be exchanged for new bills.?
Under bank rules on the exchange of damaged, mutilated and contaminated banknotes, the person was provided with the new currency totaling about 23 million won (USD 19,320), the Bank of Korea said in a statement.?
Bank official Seo Jee Woun said the number of 50,000-won bills the bank exchanged at half value was 507. She said the bank doesn't count the number of bills that it cannot exchange because damage is too big.?
She said bank officials didn't know exactly how much money the person tried to wash.?
She said the loss would still be "considerable."?
How much the central bank should exchange in a situation like this depends on how seriously banknotes are damaged. The bank can provide the new currency at face value if damage is minimal, but at half value or not at all if damage is significant.?
The amount in question was condolence money given by relatives, friends and others during a family funeral, according to the bank.?
The person has been only identified by family name Eom. Bank officials gave no further personal information citing privacy law.?