North Korean wŏn

North Korean wŏn
조선민주주의인민공화국 원 (Korean) 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國圓 (Korean Hanja)
Old 1000 wŏn banknote of the second wŏn
ISO 4217 Code	KPW
User(s)	Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Subunit
1/100	chŏn (전/錢)
Symbol	₩
Plural	The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction.
Coins	1, 5, 10, 50 chŏn, 1 wŏn[1]
Banknotes	₩5, ₩10, ₩50, ₩100, ₩200, ₩500, ₩1000, ₩2000, ₩5000[2]
Central bank	Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The wŏn (sign: ₩; code: KPW) is the currency of North Korea. It is subdivided into 100 chŏn. The wŏn is issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Etymology

Wŏn is a cognate of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen. The wŏn was subdivided into 100 chŏn (전; 錢; McCune-Reischauer: chŏn; Revised Romanization: jeon).

History

The wŏn became the currency of North Korea on December 6, 1947, replacing the Korean yen that was still in circulation.^[3]

North Korean wŏn are intended exclusively for North Korean citizens, and the Bank of Trade (무역은행) issued a separate currency (or foreign exchange certificates) for visitors, like many other socialist states. However, North Korea made two varieties of foreign exchange certificates, one for visitors from "socialist countries" which were colored red, and the other for visitors from "capitalist countries" which were colored blue/green. In recent times, FECs have been largely deprecated in favor of visitors paying directly with hard currency, especially the euro.

Dollar peg removed

Since 2001, the North Korean government has abandoned the iconic rate of 2.16 wŏn to the dollar (which is said to have been based upon Kim Jong-il's birthday, February 16)^[4] and banks in the country now issue at rates closer to the black market rate. A more recent official rate has shown the North Korean wŏn to be 142.45 to the dollar. However, rampant inflation has been eroding the North Korean wŏn's value to such an extent that currently it is believed to be worth about the same as the South Korean wŏn. A report by defectors from North Korea claimed that the black market rate was 570 to the Chinese yuan in June 2009.^[5] In any case, the U.S. dollar and other currencies are still worth more in North Korean wŏn on the black market than officially. This is also apparent when one examines the dates of issue or series of the different denominations of banknotes (see below).

2009 revaluation

The wŏn was revalued again in November 2009^[6] for the first time in 50 years.^[7][8] North Koreans were given seven days to exchange a maximum of ₩100,000 (worth approximately US$40 on the black market) in ₩1,000 notes for ₩10 notes, but after protests the limit was raised to ₩150,000 in cash and ₩300,000 in bank savings.^[9] The revaluation, seen as a move against private market activity, will wipe out many North Koreans' savings.^[9] The Times speculated that the move may have been an attempt to control price inflation and destroy the fortunes of black market money traders.^[10] The announcement was made to foreign embassies but not in North Korean state media.^[11][10] Information was later carried via a wire-based radio service only available within North Korea.^[12]

As part of the process, the old notes ceased to be legal tender on 30 November 2009 with notes valued in the new wŏn not being distributed until 7 December 2009.^[10] This means that North Koreans will not be able to exchange any money for goods or services until that date and most shops, restaurants and transport services have been shut down for the week.^[10] The only services remaining open are those catering to the political elite and foreigners which will continue to trade exclusively in foreign currency.^[10] The measure has led to concerns amongst North Korean officials that it would result in civil unrest; this has so far not been the case.^[10] China's Xinhua news agency described North Korean citizens in a "collective panic";^[13] army bases were put on standby and there were unconfirmed reports of protests in the streets that forced authorities to slightly increase the amount of currency people would be allowed to exchange.^[14] Piles of old bills were also set on fire in separate locations, old money was dumped in a stream (against laws of the descreation of images of Kim Il-sung) and two traders were shot dead in Pyongyang, according to international reports.^[15][16] Authorities threatened "merciless punishment" for any person who violated the rules of the currency change.^[17]

On December 4, pictures of the new notes were published in the Chosun Shinbo, a North Korean newspaper in Japan.^[18][19]

Coins

Second won

Older coins for circulation were the 1, 5, 10 and 50 chŏn along with the 1 wŏn. Later coins were the 10 wŏn, 50 wŏn and 100 wŏn.

During the Cold War, there was a special system of marking coins for different groups of people. Coins with no stars were for North Koreans, coins with one star were for "socialist visitors", and coins with two stars were for "capitalist visitors". Besides the circulating coins, there are an abundance of different commemorative coins minted in the name of the DPRK. Most, if not all of them are sold to foreign numismatists.

Third won

Coins will be issued in 1, 5, 10, and 50 chŏn and 1 wŏn denominations. These coins feature the national coat of arms on the obverse and flowers, particularly the Kimjongilia and the Kimilsungia, on the reverse.^[18]

Banknotes

First won

Banknotes of this issue came in 15, 20 and 50 chŏn along with 1, 5, 10 and 100 wŏn in 1947. The wŏn was replaced with the second in 1959 at a rate of one new wŏn to 100 old wŏn.^[21]

Second won

Stack of North Korean won

As explained above, there are two varieties of foreign certificates. For the 1978 banknote series, foreign certificates were implemented by overstamp and serial number color, except for the ₩100 Kim Il Sung value which was not given to foreigners:

₩10 foreign certificate for "socialist visitors" (1988)

In 1988, the Bank of Trade (무역은행) (as opposed to the Central Bank) issued two unique series of foreign certificates. They both included 1 chŏn, 5 chŏn, 10 chŏn, 50 chŏn, ₩1, ₩5, ₩10, and ₩50. The series for "capitalist visitors" was blue-green, while the series for "socialist visitors" was pink.^[22] The chŏn notes had a simple design of patterns and the values, while the socialist wŏn notes depict the International Friendship Exhibition, and the capitalist wŏn notes depict the Chollima statue.^[23]

Banknotes in circulation are:

In 2006, another ₩1,000 and ₩5,000 were issued. Designs are the same as the 2002 issue, except for the coloured fields behind the text ₩1,000 and ₩5,000, which do not extend all the way to the margins. Unusually, the ₩100, ₩1,000 and ₩5,000 bills are of essentially the same basic design. Although they are of different coloration, they portray the exact same subjects.

Third won

With the revaluation of the wŏn, banknotes were issued in values of 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 wŏn. Kim Il Sung will only appear on the face of the 5000, with other notes depicting generic people or scenes of various monuments in North Korea.

Note: Rates obtained from these websites could be substantially different from black market rate

See also

• Economy of North Korea
• South Korean won

References