5000 Won

North Korea issued relatively few high-denomination notes before the catastrophic 2009 currency reform, which wiped out personal savings by capping exchanges at 100,000 won per household — effectively destroying wealth accumulated outside state channels. The 5000 Won denomination emerged in the post-reform period as the regime rebuilt its currency architecture, partly to accommodate the inflation the redenomination itself failed to suppress.

Security features on DPRK notes of this period are modest by international standards, reflecting limited access to specialist printing technology under sanctions. Whether this note circulated domestically or was produced primarily for collector export channels — a known revenue stream for Pyongyang — is difficult to establish with certainty.