Korea P-CS21 1000 Won 2018 UNC—Commemorative—70th Anniversary of Regime

A rare commemorative overprint marking the 70th Anniversary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1948–2018) — one of the most isolated and tightly controlled nations on Earth, issuing banknotes that almost no one inside the country ever collects.

Front

• Mangyongdae — the birthplace of Kim Il Sung, depicted as a traditional Korean log cabin in a forested hillside setting
• State emblem — featuring a hydroelectric power station, a shining star, and the Paektu-san mountain, framed by rice sheaves and a red ribbon
• Commemorative overprint — text in green and red at center-left beneath the coat of arms, marking the 70th anniversary of the republic
• Inscriptions in Hangul

Back

• Lake Samji (Samjiyon) — a scenic volcanic caldera lake near Mount Paektu in the far north of North Korea, promoted as a revolutionary and tourist site
• Inscriptions in Hangul

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • Overprint 2018 — this note
  • Specimen
• Catalog numbers:
  • Bank Note Museum (banknote.ws) lists as Pick P-CS21;
  • Numista lists as Pick P-CS23 and Numista #204571
• Watermark: Blossoms of Siebold's Magnolia
• Security thread: Present
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 145 × 65 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행)
• Signatures: None
• Demonetized: No — demonetization of the Third Won has not occurred
• Currency: Third Won (2009–date)
• Official language: Korean

About North Korea

• Origin of name: "Korea" derives from the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392 AD); "North" distinguishes it from South Korea following the 1945 partition. The Korean name Joseon (조선) references the ancient Joseon dynasty (1392–1897)
• Capital: Pyongyang — city pop. ~3.1 million; metro pop. ~3.3 million
  • Origin of name: From Korean Pyeongyang (평양), meaning "flat land" or "peaceful land"
• Population: ~26 million (UN 2024) — similar to Texas or Australia
• Area: 120,538 km² (46,541 mi²) — similar to Mississippi or Greece
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$1,800 (est.) — one of the lowest in the world; reliable data is unavailable due to state secrecy
• Main exports: Coal, iron ore, zinc, copper, textiles, seafood (largely via illicit channels due to UN sanctions)
• Borders: China (north), Russia (northeast), South Korea (south, DMZ)
• Official/spoken language: Korean
• Ethnicities: Korean (~100%)
• Memberships: United Nations (1991); Non-Aligned Movement (1975); G77;
• Sovereignty:
  • Ancient Korean kingdoms — Gojoseon, Three Kingdoms, Goryeo, Joseon
  • Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945)
  • Soviet occupation of northern Korea (1945–1948)
  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea proclaimed (1948) under Kim Il Sung
  • Korean War (1950–1953) — armistice, no peace treaty; technically still at war with South Korea
  • Kim dynasty rule (1948–date): Kim Il Sung → Kim Jong Il → Kim Jong Un — this note issued during Kim Jong Un's rule

North Korea Unfiltered

• North Korea has conducted six nuclear weapons tests (2006–2017) and possesses an estimated 40–50 warheads as of 2024
• The country operates a songbun (성분) caste system — citizens are classified by political loyalty into 51 sub-categories that determine housing, food, education, and career for life
• An estimated 80,000–120,000 people are held in political prison camps (kwanliso), where three generations of a family can be imprisoned for one person's perceived disloyalty
• North Korea has the world's largest military relative to population — roughly 1.28 million active troops out of 26 million people
• The country operates on Juche calendar — year 1 is 1912, the birth year of Kim Il Sung; 2024 is Juche 113
• Electricity is so scarce that satellite images at night show North Korea as almost entirely dark between the bright lights of China and South Korea
• The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) separating North and South Korea has, paradoxically, become one of the most biodiverse wildlife corridors in Asia due to 70+ years of human absence

The Hermit Kingdom's Banknote

North Korea's banknotes are among the most difficult to legally obtain in the world. The state controls all currency flows; ordinary citizens rarely handle foreign currency, and exporting won is effectively prohibited. This note reached the outside world through the narrow channels of diplomatic exchange, defector networks, or sanctioned numismatic trade — making every example a minor miracle of provenance.

Mangyongdae: Sacred Ground of the Kim Cult

The log cabin at Mangyongdae is North Korea's most sacred secular site — the birthplace of Kim Il Sung, visited by millions of schoolchildren annually as a mandatory pilgrimage. Its depiction on currency is not decorative; it is ideological. The state emblem alongside it — hydroelectric dam, shining star, Paektu-san — encodes the entire mythology of the DPRK: self-reliance, revolutionary origin, eternal leadership.

Lake Samji: Where the Revolution Was Born

Lake Samji sits near Mount Paektu, the volcanic peak the Kim dynasty claims as the birthplace of Kim Jong Il (a claim disputed by historians, who place his birth in the Soviet Union). The lake and mountain are the spiritual heartland of North Korean mythology — appearing on stamps, murals, and now this commemorative note. To own this reverse is to hold a piece of the most elaborately constructed personality cult in modern history.

A 70th Anniversary the World Wasn't Invited To

The 2018 overprint commemorates seven decades of the DPRK — a state that has outlasted the Soviet Union, survived famine, sanctions, and international isolation, and passed power through three generations of a single family. The overprint itself is modest: green and red text on the obverse. But the note it marks is anything but. Own this piece of one of history's most extraordinary political experiments — a nation that prints its own mythology directly onto its money.

Condition: Uncirculated (UNC). Shipped in a protective sleeve.