The Bank of Korea was built as the country’s central bank in 1912 based on a design by Tatsuno Kingo, an authority on modern architecture. Following the establishment of the South Korean government in 1948, the government viewed the establishment of a modern financial system, along with a central bank, as a priority. In June 1950, the Bank of Korea was launched under the Bank of Korea Act promulgated one month earlier. During the Korean War, gold and silver bars kept by the bank were relocated to a naval base in Jinhae, but a considerable quantity of them was stolen along with many bank notes. Now, the bank is the institution responsible for mobilizing and distributing the funds required for the country’s economic growth and regulating the total amount of money in circulation. The building has witnessed the history of the country’s modern financial system and has been a leading symbol of the country’s modern architecture over the past century. The Currency & Finance Museum is located within its precincts.