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Minting Money for India
The 1980s was a period of currency shortage in South Asia. South Korea's moneymaking technology was key to countries like India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan, where "made-in-Korea" banknotes and coins were circulated. Further, South Korea's moneymaking technology was transferred to some countries like Bhutan to produce currency. Such export of currencies and technology transfer from South Korea to South Asia is significant in the sense that possessing and producing unique national currencies is closely linked to state legitimacy and power.
The author would like to thank KOMSCO's overseas strategy and business team and Hoasun Shin for providing KOMSCO's data.
Possession of a unique national currency is considered an indispensable component of sovereignty, as currency and its strength is closely linked to state legitimacy and power. Such national monetary strength will be constrained if the multiple currencies of a certain country, including coins and banknotes, are not sufficiently circulating in the national territory due to production shortages.
Many Asian countries in the 1980s lacked sufficient currency. In most cases, the shortage stemmed from not only the lack of technology to establish mints but also the lack of capacity to produce sufficient high quality currency.
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