North Korea’s Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau is reportedly conducting inspections of the country’s electronic payments network to update equipment and stabilize operations in a drive to boost confidence in the country's transition to digital finance.
According to report on the website Daily NK, citing an anonymous source, the bureau kicked off an initiative to inspect North Korea’s e-payments system last month that is slated to run until October.
Bureau officials spent the past month gathering data to determine the current status of the network, and are now in the process of visiting each facility connected to the network, starting in the greater Pyongyang area, including Nampo, Pyongsong and Sariwon, the report said.
Officials are inspecting data processing systems in each facility to ensure data is being exchanged smoothly and in real time between banks and shops that support e-payments. The inspectors are also focused on ensuring the network is stable enough to run 24/7.
The officials are also replacing equipment when necessary, the anonymous source claims, “so that the e-payment-related infrastructure in each region operates uniformly, with the authorities hoping this will strengthen ties between Pyongyang and the provinces.”
By the end of the month, the inspection teams will carry out more in-depth technical inspections with experts from card research centres, the report added, with a particular focus on cybersecurity to protect the network from external attacks.
The bureau is scheduled to submit its inspection report next month to the Cabinet, which has placed a high priority on building confidence in the country’s e-payment system, not least because many North Koreans have developed a deep distrust of banks after the country’s disastrous confiscatory currency reform initiative in 2009.
The Cabinet also urged local people’s committees to actively cooperate with the inspections, although local authorities have been too pre-occupied with recovering from recent flooding to be of much help, the report said.
A June report from Daily NK said that e-payment apps are growing in popularity in North Korea, especially among younger people in large cities.
