500 Won Panda

North Korea issued a series of panda-themed coins in the mid-1990s explicitly for the foreign collector market — hard currency the regime desperately needed as the economy collapsed following the dissolution of Soviet aid after 1991. These were never intended for domestic circulation and were almost certainly sold through Chinese intermediaries given the panda subject matter's obvious appeal to that market.

KM#76 is one of several 1995 issues from this program. Mintages were not publicly disclosed by the Central Bank, which was standard practice for DPRK numismatic issues of the period.