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.<\/p>\n
In May of last year, North Korea ordered pharmacies nationwide to purchase the devices to sterilize currency. Then, late last year, the authorities<\/span> extended the cash sterilizer mandate to foreign currency shops and department stores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In December, the propaganda outlet DPRK Today introduced the \u201chigh-performance\u201d cash sterilizer developed by Potonggang Advanced Technology Development Company.<\/span><\/p>\n According to DPRK Today, the \u201crotating hot air-drying and alcohol fumigation cash sterilizer\u201d uses hot air and alcohol aerosol to \u201ceffectively\u201d sterilize cash as it rotates the money around.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n The order to install the cash sterilizers was reportedly prompted by an inspection tour of pharmacies by North Korean leader Kim Jong un.<\/span><\/p>\n Last May, while Kim was inspecting pharmacies in downtown Pyongyang amid North Korea\u2019s first publicly acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak, the North Korean leader said that the COVID-19 virus could spread as money changed hands, and that \u201cwe must use our own power to make a machine that can sterilize the money a pharmacy collects and furnish them at all shops.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The source said North Korea began developing the cash sterilizer to fulfill Kim\u2019s \u201con-site guidance,\u201d and started installing them at shops from November.<\/span><\/p>\n