10 Won Socialist Visitor

North Korea maintained parallel currency systems for much of the late Cold War period, with separate notes issued specifically for foreign visitors from socialist countries — distinct from those given to capitalist-bloc tourists. This 10 Won note belongs to that socialist visitor series, introduced in 1988 as the regime sought to extract hard currency and goods from fraternal allies while keeping foreign spending strictly channeled through state-controlled shops.

The Foreign Trade Bank controlled the entire mechanism. Visitors exchanged their currencies at fixed official rates, received these segregated notes, and could spend them only at designated Hwanggumsan stores — off-limits to ordinary North Koreans.