10 tons of coins tossed into Cheonggyecheon stream over 6 yrs

Coins tossed by citizens and tourists into a popular stream running through downtown Seoul over the past six years amounted to 68.73 million won ($59,429), municipal officials said Tuesday.

A total of 1.07 million coins have been tossed into the Cheonggyecheon stream since a pond-shaped site for people making wishes was built upon the stream's restoration in October 2005. The coins collected so far are 2.5 kilometers in length and 10 tons in weight, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corp.

Once covered with asphalt for decades, the Cheonggyecheon was transformed into a popular recreation spot following a $900 million restoration project, initiated by then Seoul Mayor and current President Lee Myung-bak in 2003. Up to 17 million people visit the stream each year.

Last year alone, 214 kinds of coins from all over the world were collected totaling 32.04 million won, up 3.4 times from a year earlier, the corporation said.

Among the collected ones, 5.612 coins, or the largest, were Japanese yen, followed by 5,041 issued in Thailand, 3,934 from China and 2,444 from the United States.

"We will donate the funds raised from the stream last year to charity", said an official of the corporation, adding the coins gathered from the stream early last year were given to the Community Chest of Korea and the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF. (Yonhap)