North Korean won

E45214

The North Korean won is the official fiat currency of North Korea, tightly controlled by the state and not freely convertible on international markets.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
North Korean won (early issues) 1

Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fiat currency
national currency
blackMarketExchangeRate differs significantly from official rate
capitalControls strict
centralBank Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
circulationOutsideCountry very limited
controlledBy North Korean government
surface form: Government of North Korea
convertibility not freely convertible
country North Korea
currencyFamily won currencies of the Korean peninsula
currencySign
denominationType banknotes
coins
economicRole medium of exchange in North Korea
store of value within North Korea’s controlled system
unit of account in North Korea
exchangeRegime state-controlled
firstIntroducedInCentury 20th century
foreignExchangeMarketStatus highly restricted
hasFeature portraits and socialist imagery on banknotes
hasRestriction foreigners face limits on holding and using it
IMFStatus non-convertible currency
inflationRisk historically high
introducedAs successor to the Korean yen in the North
ISO4217Code KPW
issuer Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
legalTenderIn North Korea
monetaryAuthority Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
monetaryPolicy centrally planned
monetarySystem centrally administered
officialCurrencyOf North Korea
peggedStatus not freely traded on global forex markets
regulatesUseOfForeignCurrency North Korean government
surface form: Government of North Korea
relatedCurrency South Korean won
subunit chon
subunitToUnitRatio 100 chon = 1 won
symbol
usedAlongside foreign currencies in informal markets
usedFor domestic transactions in North Korea
usedIn state rationing system
usedPrimarilyBy residents of North Korea
writingSystem Hangul

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

North Korea currency North Korean won
this entity surface form: North Korean won (early issues)
Pyongyang usesCurrency North Korean won