Coins in Cheonggye Stream to add up to 100 mil. won soon

Several Japanese tourists make wishes as they toss coins into a pond at the Cheonggye Stream in central Seoul, Tuesday. The accumulated Korean coins added up to nearly 75 million won and when including the 37,801 foreign coins, the total reached approximately 80 million won, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corp. / Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki

By Kim Bo-eun

Coins tossed into Cheonggye Stream are expected to add up to be worth 100 million won in August, the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corp. said Tuesday.

They added up to around 75 million won last March. Around 600,000 visitors have tossed some 1.2 million coins since 2005.

The 38.39 million won worth of coins collected over the past year was donated to the Community Chest of Korea and 31,463 foreign coins were donated to UNICEF, Tuesday.

The donation was of coins accumulated since the last donation on Feb. 15 last year. This is the fifth donation so far, with two in 2011 and another two in 2010.

The coins have rapidly been accumulating since the pond-shaped site at the stream was refurbished in 2010.

A sign was engraved on the ground indicating that it is a spot where visitors can toss coins and another sign informing visitors that the coins would be gathered and donated was posted in foreign languages.

The number and value of the coins collected in 2011 increased significantly compared to the previous year.

Most of the visitors were found to have wished for the health and happiness of family members when tossing the coins.

Posts on the corporation website tell of various stories of individuals whose wishes they made when tossing the coin came true, such as giving birth to a daughter or meeting the love of one's life.
[email protected]