1000 Won

North Korea's 2002 currency reform introduced several higher denominations aimed partly at absorbing the unofficial cash that had accumulated during the famine years of the late 1990s, when the state distribution system had effectively collapsed and private market activity had exploded despite being formally prohibited. The 1000 Won was among the largest denominations in everyday circulation during that transitional period — significant in a country where official wages were still denominated in figures from a previous economic reality.

Pick 45 is sometimes found with subtle ink saturation inconsistencies across the series, a known quirk of North Korean domestic printing operations during this period rather than a defect specific to individual notes.