The number of fake South Korean banknotes found here continued to decline in the first half, and the combined face value of the counterfeits also dropped sharply, central bank data showed Sunday.

In the January-June period, the number of counterfeit banknotes found here came to 129, down 19.4 percent from 160 bills found a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The half-year tally marks a steady decline since the second half of 2017.

The combined face value of the counterfeits found came to 1.4 million won during the cited period, down 47.4 percent from 2.66 million won in the first half of 2019, according to the BOK.

By denomination, the number of fake 50,000-won bills found in the first half came to 11, compared with 35 in the first half of 2019.

The number of fake 10,000-won bills and 5,000-won bills came to 60 and 48, respectively, both down from 61 and 59 in the first half of last year. (Yonhap)