A change in the value of the 10,000-won bill, the highest banknote here, shows the necessity of having 100,000-won bills. Since its debut in 1973, inflation has eroded its value to less than one-tenth of what it was. The volume of our gross domestic product (GDP) has made a whopping 60-times increase in the last 30 years and it is ridiculous to keep the 10,000-won bill as the highest denomination. Korea is the country with its highest-denomination banknote having the least face value among OECD member states.

Another reason to support the bigger bills is that it is inconvenient for big spenders to carry just 10,000-won notes. As a result, they rely on 100,000-won cashier??s checks. Commercial banks spend as much as 600 billion won each year on issuing single-use 100,000 won cashier??s checks. Issuing large-denomination bills, which can remain in circulation for three years or longer, can make savings of up to 40 billion won by reducing the number of 10,000 won bills to be printed.

However, opposition to the new bills is still strong. Those opposing it claim that the higher denomination bills will likely cause a commodity price hike and facilitate such misconduct as bribes or embezzlement as well as tax evasion. It may be true that the new bills could make it easy to commit wrongdoing since the circulation of 100,000 won bills will reduce the chances of receiving bribes by check that can be easily tracked. It is also said that the new bills will increase the use of cash over credit cards, a practice that facilitates tax evasion by shop owners.

All those reasons make sense. But not enough to defer the issuance of 100,000-won bill any further. The circulation of large bills is not the root-cause of corruption and the concern about price hikes is also groundless. European countries were found to have suffered a 2.0 percent price hike after the introduction of the euro. The likelihood of increasing tax evasion is not so serious as to cause the government to reconsider issuing the new bills.