What North Korean won actually arrives in North Korea when someone sends Australian dollars, at the live mid-market rate. We explain the process; we never recommend a provider.
| They send (AUD) | You receive at mid-market (KPW) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 45,300 KPW |
| 1,000 AUD | 90,600 KPW |
| 2,000 AUD | 181,200 KPW |
| 5,000 AUD | 453,000 KPW |
Mid-market equivalents, not transfer quotes - the sender’s provider deducts its margin and any fees before the money reaches you. STRUCK 11:00 AEST · TUE 13 OCT.
One of the most closed-off countries on Earth, North Korea keeps its own calendar and its own carefully guarded borders on the northern half of the Korean peninsula.
A wide central red panel bordered above and below by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe, with a red five-pointed star in a white circle near the hoist. Article 166 of the constitution prescribes exactly that, sets the flag at 1.65 times as long as it is tall and assigns none of it a meaning; a separate national flag law gives the whole flag a meaning without reading the colours one by one. A state account of the design gives the red to the blood of revolutionaries, the white to a nation of one bloodline and culture, the blue to the people's stamina and to sovereignty, and the star to bravery.
A continent pretending to be a country - Australia is the only nation that fills an entire continent, with most of its 27 million people clinging to the coast while the red-dirt interior does its own thing.
A blue field with the Union Jack in the canton, a large white seven-pointed Commonwealth Star below it, and the five white stars of the Southern Cross at the fly. Six of the big star's points stand for the states and the seventh for the territories; the Southern Cross marks Australia's place in the southern sky.
There is no ordinary way to send money to North Korea from Australia. The won is not traded, sanctions prohibit the overwhelming majority of financial dealings, and the figure carried here exists as a reference series rather than a usable transfer rate.
The exchange rate is set on the sending side - by the service the sender chooses in Australia - so the most useful thing a receiver can do happens before the transfer: share the live mid-market rate on this page so the sender can judge the margin in their quote. How the money arrives in North Korea determines any local receiving charges - bank-to-bank transfers can pass through intermediary banks that deduct handling fees.
Sending rather than receiving? The sender’s view of this corridor covers the same rate from the other side. The AUD/KPW converter page handles any amount. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
The decision that cut the messaging link was taken in Brussels. SWIFT, the interbank messaging cooperative, is incorporated in Belgium, and in early March 2017 the Belgian authorities determined they would no longer allow it to provide services to North Korean banks designated under United Nations sanctions. Three banks went at once. The following week the cooperative removed the remaining four, and its own stated reason was that they failed to meet its operating criteria, which it did not elaborate. Seven had still been connected at the start of that year, a fact drawn to attention by a monitoring report the month before.
A second instruction, from a different body, has run alongside it for longer. The Financial Action Task Force has reiterated since 2011 that countries should terminate correspondent relationships with North Korean banks, and its statement of 19 June 2026 lists the country among three subject to a call for action. The same statement records something less expected: despite those calls, it says, the country has increased connectivity with the international financial system, as the Task Force noted in February 2024.
Whether the instruction is being followed is now harder to establish, and the Task Force says so itself. Reliable information on the risks, it writes, is hampered by the termination of the mandate of the Security Council committee's panel of experts. That panel published twenty reports between 2010 and 2024 and was disbanded in April 2024 after a veto of the renewal draft. Eleven governments, Australia among them, set up a monitoring team outside the United Nations in October 2024 to fill the gap, and held its first steering committee meeting in February 2025.
Sources: Congressional Research Service, International Financial Messaging Systems, report R46843, 19 July 2021 · Financial Action Task Force, High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, 19 June 2026 · Global Affairs Canada, Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team Steering Committee inaugural meeting joint statement, 19 February 2025 · Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Joint Statement of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team on its first report, 30 May 2025
How much North Korean won will I receive in North Korea?
A little less than the mid-market figures above. The service the sender uses in Australia sets the rate and fees; local receiving banks in North Korea can also apply their own charges depending on how the transfer arrives.
The sender asked for my details - what will they need?
Whatever their transfer service asks for on the receiving side - typically your full legal name and local bank account details in North Korea. Give the name exactly as your bank records it; mismatches are the most common reason a transfer is delayed.
Why did I receive less than the rate on this page suggests?
No retail provider transacts at the mid-market rate - it is the midpoint of the wholesale market. What separates it from a quoted rate is margin, and margin is normally a larger cost than any advertised fee. On a bank-to-bank transfer an intermediary bank can also deduct a handling charge in transit.