A North Korean government mandate to purchase domestically developed “cash sterilizers” has sparked criticism among managers of pharmacies and other shops in the country, Daily NK has learned.
In May of last year, North Korea ordered pharmacies nationwide to purchase the devices to sterilize currency. Then, late last year, the authorities extended the cash sterilizer mandate to foreign currency shops and department stores.
In December, the propaganda outlet DPRK Today introduced the “high-performance” cash sterilizer developed by Potonggang Advanced Technology Development Company.
According to DPRK Today, the “rotating hot air-drying and alcohol fumigation cash sterilizer” uses hot air and alcohol aerosol to “effectively” sterilize cash as it rotates the money around.
The cash sterilizers currently installed at pharmacies and shops in North Korea come in both wall-mounted and desktop varieties, and emit an orange light when in operation.
The order to install the cash sterilizers was reportedly prompted by an inspection tour of pharmacies by North Korean leader Kim Jong un.
Last May, while Kim was inspecting pharmacies in downtown Pyongyang amid North Korea’s first publicly acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak, the North Korean leader said that the COVID-19 virus could spread as money changed hands, and that “we must use our own power to make a machine that can sterilize the money a pharmacy collects and furnish them at all shops.”
The source said North Korea began developing the cash sterilizer to fulfill Kim’s “on-site guidance,” and started installing them at shops from November.
DEVICES COST UP TO USD 3,000 A PIECE
The problem is that while North Korea might be mandating the installation of the devices in shops, the authorities are not providing them for free — shops need to purchase them on their own.
In fact, North Korea is selling the wall-mounted ones for USD 3,000, and the desktop ones for USD 1,500.
Stores have to choose one of the options, though with the desktop version, which is the cheaper of the two, North Korean authorities are reportedly advising shops purchase two devices.
Ultimately, this means shops have to spend at least USD 3,000 to purchase the cash sterilizers.
Many shops choose to pay in dollars rather than North Korean won because the government uses the market exchange rate rather than the official exchange rate for local currency purchases.
Moreover, North Korean authorities will not allow even state-run shops to use cash vouchers, called haengpyo, to purchase the sterilizers.
Although North Korean enterprises usually use haengpyo for official purposes, the government is making them pay for sterilizers in cash.
Pharmacies and shops are complaining that the state is forcing shops to buy the sterilizers to make money.
Some people are expressing scepticism regarding the sterilizers’ effectiveness, too.
This is to say, nobody can confirm that simply placing cash in the machine kills the COVID-19 virus.
One shop assistant in Pyongyang said she was unlikely to catch the virus from cash anyway because she wears rubber gloves when she works.
“I have no idea if the money is really sterilized even if I stick it in the machine, and I’m just out USD 3,000 [to pay for the device],” she said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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