North Korea CBDC Tracker

North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is in the research phase. A representative for the regime told Vice News in 2019 that North Korea was “in the early stages of developing its own cryptocurrency in a bid to avoid crippling international sanctions and circumvent the U.S.-dominated global financial system.” With that said, no additional information has been reported publicly since 2019.

CBDC History and Development

In 2019, Vice News reported that a representative for the regime said that North Korea was “in the early stages of developing its own cryptocurrency in a bid to avoid crippling international sanctions and circumvent the U.S.-dominated global financial system.” Although CBDCs and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally different, it’s likely this person had a CBDC in mind—especially since the terminology had not been fully established at this time. With that said, this statement should be taken with some skepticism. When asked for verification, the North Korean embassy would not confirm or deny the claim.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

North Korea earned a 3 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. As noted in the report, “North Korea is a one-party state led by a dynastic totalitarian dictatorship that regularly engages in grave human rights abuses.” The issues that most closely relate to the use or issuance of a CBDC include corruption and surveillance.

“Corruption is believed to be endemic at every level of the state and economy, and government officials commonly engage in bribery,” according to Freedom House. The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

Freedom House further reported that “Nearly all forms of private communication are monitored by a huge network of informants.” Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used to greatly expand surveillance by putting financial records on government databases by default.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.