5 Won

North Korea's 1978 note series was produced under the tight economic nationalism of the Juche period, when the DPRK maintained parallel currency systems — one for domestic use, one for foreign visitors. This note belongs to the domestic circulation series, distinct from the "tourist won" certificates introduced around the same time and printed with different color-coding to enforce hard currency segregation at state shops.

The watermark is the primary security measure, modest by contemporary international standards but consistent with Soviet-bloc printing norms of the period.