5.000 Won

North Korea's 5,000 Won denomination sits at the upper end of the DPRK's domestic currency hierarchy, though the practical purchasing power of any won-denominated note has been complicated since the catastrophic 2009 redenomination — a government-ordered currency swap that wiped out household savings by capping the exchange of old notes at 100,000 won per family. The 2013 date places this note in the post-redenomination period, when the state was attempting to rebuild some semblance of monetary credibility after the 2009 debacle provoked rare public protests.

The security specification is modest for a high-denomination note — watermark and thread only, no color-shifting ink or microprinting — consistent with the printing capabilities available to the DPRK at this issue date.