Bundles of Cash Appear at BOK Audit... Cheon Haram Says "Tracking Is Impossible with Sealed Bands" [2025 Audit]

Pulling Out 1,000 One-Thousand-Won Bills at the Audit
Stresses, "There Is No Way to Know How or Through Which Bank the Bundles Were Distributed"

A bundle of cash appeared at the National Assembly's audit of the Bank of Korea. Cheon Haram, a member of the Reform New Party, brought 1,000 one-thousand-won bills from a commercial bank to clarify suspicions related to the Bank of Korea's sealed bundles.

Cheon Haram, a member of the Reform New Party, is holding the Bank of Korea's seal while questioning at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's audit of the Bank of Korea held on the 20th at the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On October 20, during the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's audit of the Bank of Korea, Assemblyman Cheon Haram said, "I felt frustrated that the National Assembly seems to be a source of fake news, so I couldn't stand it any longer and personally withdrew a sealed bundle from a commercial bank. When I asked at the bank, they told me that withdrawing 1,000 bills at once is rare these days, and sealed bundles can only be issued if they are intact, so it is uncommon. However, they also said that there is no regulatory problem with giving sealed bundles to individuals or companies, and it does happen in practice."

This was intended to refute the statement made by Police Superintendent Baek Haeryong at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on September 22, where he said, "If there is a band, it must be signed, so it is always possible to track where the money went." Assemblyman Cheon tore open the sealed bundle himself, showed the individual bundles of one-thousand-won bills grouped in hundreds to Governor Lee and other lawmakers, and asked, "Can you tell at which bank and which counter I withdrew these?" He emphasized, "The Bank of Korea's sealed band is only to confirm that there are 1,000 bills and that quality control was properly conducted. There is no way to know through the band at which bank or how the money was distributed."

In response to Assemblyman Cheon's question about whether it is impossible to track the bundles in any way, Governor Lee explained, "From the producer's perspective, we manage the quality. Just as a ramen company does not know where each pack goes, we do not know where each bundle ends up. If we wanted to know, we would have to add barcodes to track where the money goes, but there has been no need for that so far. If we did that, it would compromise the anonymity of currency, so we do not do it."

Assemblyman Cheon added, "According to the regulations on government treasury fund management, including special activity expenses, all funds must first be received as deposits. This means everything is processed as a type of account transfer, and cash cannot be withdrawn. All government deposits and expenditures are handled through commercial banks," urging, "Please actively respond to fake news."