The North Korean won is an official currency of North Korea with currency code KPW and symbol ₩; subdivided into 100 chon. The money is issued and controlled by the Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The North Korean won was introduced as an official currency on 6th December 1947 by replacing the Korean yen. The first series of won coins were introduced in 1959 in denominations of 1, 5, and 10 chon. In 2001, when the dollar was abandoned, the coins began to lose worth. Later in 2005, a new series of coins were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 won.
The first series of North Korean won banknotes were introduced in 1945 in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 100 won. In 1959, the old won series was replaced with new series of banknotes in denominations of 50 chon, 1, 5, 50 and 100 won. The currency was reformed again in 1979 by a series of new banknotes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 won. On North Korea’s 60th anniversary, the Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea issued banknotes of 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 in 2005.
In 2009, the BBC reported that in some departmental stores, the North Korean won is not accepted, the stores only accept U.S. dollar and Japanese yen. As of 2018, many stores in North Korea get euros, U.S. dollar and Chinese yuan.
The current series of North Korean won banknotes and coins in circulation include:
Banknotes:
Frequently used ₩100, ₩200, ₩500, ₩1000, ₩2000, ₩5000
Rarely used ₩5, ₩10, ₩50
Coins:
Rarely used 1, 5, 10, 50 chon, ₩1