North Korea’s electronic payment gateway Ullim 2.0 can now be used on an ordinary computer, Daily NK has learned.
Daily NK recently obtained the user manual for Ullim 2.0, which was developed by the Card Research Center of the Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau.
In the “runtime environment” section, the manual says users need at least 128MB of RAM, 3GB of hardware capacity and CPU processing speeds of 1GHz.
It also says users need the Red Star 4.0 or Windows operating system, and advises the use of the Mozilla Firefox 52 or Google Chrome 48 browser.
The manual describes a computer environment rather than a mobile one for running Ullim 2.0. This suggests that, unlike the existing Ullim service, which is a mobile payment system only, users can use Ullim 2.0 on an ordinary computer.
What is especially interesting is that the developers took care to make Ullim compatible with the Firefox browser so users can run it on the indigenously developed Red Star 4.0 operating system. However, whether users can run web-based Ullim 2.0 on a mobile device remains unknown.
To sign up for Ullim 2.0, users must go through an ID verification process similar to a certificate.
In fact, the manual obtained by Daily NK explains how users can subscribe to the service. First, it tells users to “start your web browser and enter ‘Ullim’ in the address bar, or choose ‘Ullim’ from the Naenara homepage.”
The Naenara homepage is a website that provides information on various categories, including North Korean politics, society and economics.
“When you hit the button to choose your electronic certificate and confirm your password, the window to choose your certificate will appear,” the manual continues. “Once you successfully register by filling in your personal information in the remaining items not filled in by the certificate, you can immediately use the service.”
Essentially, the service uses a certificate-based registration system similar to the registration procedure used for Internet banking in South Korea.
“To use the electronic payment gateway ‘Ullim,’ you must register your Jonsong Card on the homepage,” the manual says. “All you need to do is enter the card number and pay the KPW 3,000 registration fee, which is the cost to use the system.” No other card besides the Jonsong Card is mentioned in the manual.
As for payments, it says that on e-commerce sites that use Ullim, consumers can pay by clicking the button that says “pay by Jonsong Card” or “to pay, choose the item and pay.” According to a reference photo in the manual, there is a 3% commission.
Users can still use Ullim 2.0 to send money, too. The manual says the service charges a 1.5% commission for sending money. Ullim 1.0 charged just 2%, so the commission appears to have decreased a bit.
The manual also says that “the electronic payment gateway is for achieving electronic payments between commercial units and banks using the state computer network,” and that “by using the electronic payment gateway, safe transactions can be ensured between buyers and commercial entities and banks.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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