ON THE SIDELINES : S. Korea to Melt Down $13 Million Worth of Unsold ’88 Olympic Coins

SEOUL — South Korea plans to melt down $13 million worth of unsold coins commemorating the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, a newspaper reported today.

The Kyonghyang Daily News, a Seoul newspaper, said the Bank of Korea was arranging with a Korean firm to melt down about 2.5 million unsold Olympic coins whose value was estimated at $13 million. The newspaper accused Olympic organizers and bank officials of poor promotion and a half-hearted attitude in selling the coins.

Olympic coins were first issued in February, 1987, and the central bank had to re-issue the coins four times last year to meet a growing demand. But the demand fell off sharply in the months after last year’s summer games.