5 Won KPW #395

Front

Trial specimen note ('시용설명서' / trial explanation note) for the 2002 series 10,000 won denomination, displaying Korean-language instructions and authentication features. This is a demonstration piece showing how to validate genuine currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with text explaining verification procedures and penalty clauses for counterfeiting ('사용권의 녀 리자는 4%이며' referencing interest rates, and warnings about unauthorized reproduction under criminal law).

Back

Student and worker depicted side by side, representing the alliance of intellectuals and laborers central to North Korean state ideology. The student wears glasses and the worker is shown in working attire. Behind them are symbols of scientific and industrial progress including an atomic symbol, representing the DPRK's emphasis on science, technology, and industrial development. This pairing has been a consistent motif in North Korean currency since the socialist period, embodying the 'worker-peasant-intellectual' alliance.

History

This is a specimen or trial note ('건 본' visible in red overprint, meaning 'specimen') from North Korea's 2002 currency series, which introduced updated designs while maintaining traditional socialist iconography. The serial numbers '라ㄷ 0000000' are specimen zeros. The 2002 series represented a redenomination period following economic difficulties in the 1990s. North Korea has issued several currency reforms, including major redenominations in 2009. The text on the front is a trial/specimen explanation sheet showing authentication instructions that would be circulated to businesses and officials. The year '주체91' visible references the Juche calendar (Juche 91 = 2002 CE, counting from Kim Il-sung's birth year 1912). The actual circulating 5 won note from this series would have standard front and back designs, not this specimen/trial format.