You're probably wondering what money you'll need to bring with you when you're travelling to North Korea. After all, the North Korean Won doesn't usually feature in the business section of the nightly news.
The main currencies you can use in North Korea are Euros, US dollars and Chinese RMB. It is best to bring in these currencies in small denominations as change is quite often not available. Furthermore, the notes you bring in must be in pristine condition and be new.
You will be able to use North Korean Won (KPW) in some special circumstances. For example, when visiting the Kwangbok department store we are able to use local currency. However, whatever currency is not used must be changed back to the original currency. If you are caught trying to bring North Korean currency out of the country it will be confiscated.
Foreign currency in North Korea
Unusual for most international destinations, tourists in North Korea are required to primarily use Euros, US dollars and Chinese Yuan. Tourism is a way for the North Korean people to get their hands on hard currency and tourism facilitates this.
Notes of North Korea
Notes of the North Korean Won come in 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000. There are two sets of the 5000 note, some of which will have the face of Kim Il Sung.
These notes have become harder to find in recent times as there was a move away from putting the face of the leader on them, in case the money was torn or crumpled, as this would show disrespect.
Coins of North Korea
Due to inflation, coins are rarely used in North Korea. Officially the Won is divided into 100 Chon. There are 1, 5, 10 and 50 chon coins as well as a 1 Won coin, but you are very unlikely to see any of these in use.
Exchange rate
Although you will only get the chance to use the North Korean Won in highly regulated cirucumstances, it is still interesting to understand the circumstances for the North Korean people.
Currently on the black market, the Korean People's Won is trading between 13,000 and 14,000 Won in exchange for 1 USD. On the other hand, the state owned banks (well, they're all state owned!) exchange at an official black market rate of 8,900 won to the dollar. Officially the exchange rate is 100 won to 1 USD, and in many shops you're in you'll be expected to use this rate when paying in USD, EUR or RMB.
ATMs
There are no ATMs in North Korea and you will need to bring in all your spending money in cash with you. This is largely due to some of the most extreme economic sanctions that have been placed on banking in the world.
Again we can’t stress this enough – all visits to North Korea require you to bring cash in EUR, USD or RMB for your spending money on tour!
