Many North Koreans are unhappy with measures taken by the authorities to limit the recharging and sending of so-called “mobile money,” which is still in high demand in the country.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday that many people continue to use “mobile money” to “top off” their phone minutes because the 200 free minutes they receive a month does not last.
That is to say, all mobile phone subscribers in North Korea receive 200 free minutes, but for most users, this runs out almost immediately. North Koreans who need more minutes pay money to recharge their “mobile money,” which is used to increase their minutes.
“You can buy mobile money by walking to a post office or nearby mobile phone service center and paying in yuan, dollars or won,” said the source. “You can recharge your own mobile money once a day for up to KRW 500.”
He said users can recharge other users’ phones with their own mobile money only once a day up to KRW 500, and users can recharge another individual’s phone just once a month.
Currently, users can buy KRW 500 in mobile money for RMB 30. They can buy a minute of conversation time for KRW 4 in mobile money, while KRW 500 in mobile money will basically buy users two hours and five minutes of conversation time.
In the past, North Koreans went to the post office or mobile phone service center and bought phone cards with which to recharge their mobile money. However, some individuals turned this into a way to make money by buying up large numbers of phone cards and selling them at a premium.
Moreover, North Koreans also used the ability to send mobile money to other people as a means to make simplified money transfers or payments. This use of mobile money to make transfers and payments was a form of North Korean “fintech” people devised to deal with the country’s poor financial infrastructure.
However, North Korean authorities eliminated telephone cards and limited the sending of mobile money in 2020, complaining that telephone cards and mobile money were being misused as a means to make loans or earn money, rather than their original purpose of recharging mobile minutes.
Accordingly, North Koreans could no longer make money by selling telephone cards, and could send only KRW 500 in mobile money to another individual. Many North Koreans still complain about the inconveniences the limitations have wrought.
While limiting the transfer of mobile money, North Korean authorities are encouraging people to use bank cards or mobile applications that enable electronic payments. In fact, the Ollim 2.0 payment platform, released by North Korea in 2020, supports simplified offline payments, online payments, transfers and other functions.
The source said people who handle foreign currency like the staff of trading companies in Pyongyang and the provinces, their family members and rich donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More (the country’s wealthy entrepreneurial class) use the debit cards Narae Card and Koryo Card and smartphone programs, “but not many people use them.”
The source said North Koreans — who still distrust the country’s public financial system following the 2009 currency reform — avoid exposing their cash flow to the authorities.
“Only staff working at state trading institutions, the distribution network, medical sector, transportation enterprises, the foreign ministry and Ministry of External Economic Relations, as well as their families, use the banks’ money transfer system. Few individuals use it,” he said. “Ordinary donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More or locals think if they use the banks, they will show the authorities their entire cash flow and debt status.”
The source said it could take “several centuries” before the public financial system is “normalized.” He said people have little interest in the system because “the state has no credibility and the economy is a mess.”
