A ticket vending machine has been spotted for the first time at the Pyongyang subway station, one of North Korea’s promoted tourist attractions. On Tuesday, observers suggested that this move aims to showcase North Korea’s technological prowess to tourists, reflecting the global trend towards automation.
A Chinese traveler, who describes himself as a globetrotter, recently shared a photo of an automatic ticket vending machine on social media, claiming to have taken it at the Pyongyang subway station.
The traveler appears to have genuinely visited Pyongyang, as evidenced by a previously posted photo of a Pyongyang-bound flight ticket from Shenyang Taoxian International Airport in China on February 21.
The photographed machine displays instructions for purchasing single-use tickets and buying or recharging subway cards. According to the guide, both methods require the Jŏnsŏng card, a prepaid (debit) electronic payment card issued by North Korea’s Central Bank. This card can be used to buy single-use paper tickets, subway cards (transit cards), or to top up existing transit cards.
The seemingly touch-enabled screen features the Weinview brand logo, which is the domestic Human-Machine Interface (HMI) brand of Weintek, a Chinese company providing touchscreens and related solutions for factory automation.
North Korea’s implementation of unmanned ticket vending machines at the Pyongyang subway station is seen as an attempt to establish the station as a tourist attraction while showcasing its technological advancements and projecting an image of a modern state to visitors.
Dr. Seol Song-ah, a North Korean defector and scholar specializing in North Korea’s economy and information technology (IT), explained that Pyongyang residents are typically given commuter passes, so those buying single-use tickets are likely tourists, visitors from other regions, or individuals who need a ticket urgently.
North Korea aims to digitize its production processes by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) across its economy and further automating operations. The country is also reportedly expanding its electronic payment services. Following the enactment of an electronic payment law in 2021, North Korea appears to be promoting the expansion of electronic payments as part of its efforts to tighten economic control, as evidenced by a partial revision of this law in July 2022.
North Korean electronic payment cards function as prepaid and debit cards, allowing users to load cash onto accounts or cards. Since the introduction of the Narae electronic card by the Foreign Trade Bank in 2010, newer electronic payment cards such as Jŏnsŏng (Central Bank of North Korea), Geumgil (Daesong Bank), and Goryeo (Goryeo Bank) have gained widespread use.
Dr. Seol analyzed that the widespread adoption of the Jŏnsŏng card has centralized cash flow within the central bank, strengthening the system for managing and controlling currency circulation. This move also appears to be aimed at optimizing human resource utilization.
