Korean woman pieces together $600 in shredded banknotes, wins respect of the internet

We've all had moments of forgetfulness in the office, but a woman in South Korea spent at least a month trying to make up for her mistake.

On June 2, she accidentally put an envelope containing 11 pieces of 50,000 won (S$58) banknotes into the shredder.

The cash was cut up in mere seconds.

Startled by her blunder, the woman looked for help online.

She found out that the mutilated banknotes could only be exchanged for new ones if they were restored to 80 per cent of their original forms.

So the woman began the arduous task of piecing them together.

Over the next month, she spent time after work reassembling the shreds together, with her husband and daughter to cheer her on at home.

She finally completed the task in July.

With the reassembled banknotes, the woman managed to exchange them for new ones at the bank.

Her persistence also impressed her boss, who decided to reward her with a meal.

She took to social media on July 11 to share her experience.

When her story was shared on Weibo this week, users commented, "This woman can go crack police cases since she can reassemble these shredded banknotes. Respect!"

Another wrote, "A shredder that cuts papers up in strips is still okay, my officer shredder cuts documents in pieces so small, there's no hope of putting anything back together."

The incident also serves as a reminder to other officer workers -- look twice before you slide papers into the shredder.

ALSO READ: Boy left home alone tears up banknotes worth $10,000

lamminlee@asiaone.com