80 Years of Liberation in South Korea

2025 was a year of remembrance, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Both celebratory and somber commemorations saw many central banks contribute banknotes featuring technology from Crane Currency to mark the occasion. The Republic of Korea celebrated its 1945 liberation and the end of 35 years of occupation with a series of events in August 2025 tied to the theme “We Are the Light”.  

The celebrations also included a commemorative house note with RAPID® Vision Detect. It later received the award for the “2025 Best New Housenote” at High Security Printing Asia (HSP-Asia), held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2025.  

 

 

Long-time Partner to Crane Currency 

Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (KOMSCO) is responsible for producing the nation’s banknotes and a long-time partner of Crane Currency. 

In 2009, the Bank of Korea launched a new high denomination, the 50,000 won, securing it with MOTION® security thread. 

In 2018, KOMSCO produced a commemorative banknote that captured the speed and thrill of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, producing a 2,000-won banknote featuring Crane’s MOTION® Switch security thread and showcasing no less than seven Olympic winter sports.  This note was also crowned "Best New Commemorative Banknote" at HSP Asia 2018.

2020 saw further collaboration between Crane Currency and KOMSCO when it issued its '1796' house note with a customized MOTION SURFACE® stripe that captivates with strong 3D visual cues and fluid movement.

In 2025, Crane supported KOMSCO once again to produce the 80th Anniversary of Liberation house note. The banknote is an excellent example of how security feature customization and overall print design are united by a common theme. 

A Celebration of Light with RAPID Vision Detect 

With a nod to the country’s “We Are the Light” theme, the 80th anniversary house note is a celebration of the light and brilliance of fireworks, imagery that dominates the banknote’s obverse. Colorful rockets streak upwards and burst spectacularly above the impressive Gwanghwamun Gate of Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace. 

Above this central motif is a 6 mm-wide RAPID Vision Detect security thread from Crane Currency. A slight tilt of the banknote reveals a colorful and fiery display of orange and blue explosions. This multicolor movement is verified at a glance. Enthusiasts using magnification will also be impressed by the elegance and precision of the thread’s microscopic details. 

 

 

RAPID® Vision is also engineered for unsurpassed machine verification, making it a perfect companion to machine-readable inks integrated into the note’s overall print design. 

The obverse of the 80th Anniversary of Liberation house note also reveals captivating multicolor designs under UV illumination, which further elevates its spirit of celebration and points toward a prosperous future. 

Additional printing techniques show off the capabilities within KOMSCO, including two-sided intaglio printing, high-relief tactile elements along the narrow edges of the note, a digital code, and clever offset background patterns that include, among other designs, a parade of flag-wielding elders and students.