North Korea's Kim Jong-un, like his father before him, likes to visit factories and work-places, where he can dispense advice on how practices can be improved and efficiency increased. The only acceptable response is to wonder in awe at the far-sighted wisdom of the Great Leader, which demonstrates not only his all-seeing competence but also his benevolent love for his people. So when, last year, he suggested when visiting a pharmacy that a cash-sterilising machine would be a fine idea, as Covid could spread through money changing hands, well, cash-sterilising machines had to be built, and used in shops - at no little expense.
In May of last year, North Korea ordered pharmacies nationwide to purchase the devices to sterilize currency. Then, late last year, the authorities extended the cash sterilizer mandate to foreign currency shops and department stores.
In December, the propaganda outlet DPRK Today introduced the “high-performance” cash sterilizer developed by Potonggang Advanced Technology Development Company.
According to DPRK Today, the “rotating hot air-drying and alcohol fumigation cash sterilizer” uses hot air and alcohol aerosol to “effectively” sterilize cash as it rotates the money around.
The cash sterilizers currently installed at pharmacies and shops in North Korea come in both wall-mounted and desktop varieties, and emit an orange light when in operation....
The problem is that while North Korea might be mandating the installation of the devices in shops, the authorities are not providing them for free — shops need to purchase them on their own.
In fact, North Korea is selling the wall-mounted ones for USD 3,000, and the desktop ones for USD 1,500.
Stores have to choose one of the options, though with the desktop version, which is the cheaper of the two, North Korean authorities are reportedly advising shops purchase two devices.
Ultimately, this means shops have to spend at least USD 3,000 to purchase the cash sterilizers....
Pharmacies and shops are complaining that the state is forcing shops to buy the sterilizers to make money.
It does indeed sound remarkably like a state-sponsored scam. If it even works...
Some people are expressing scepticism regarding the sterilizers’ effectiveness, too.
This is to say, nobody can confirm that simply placing cash in the machine kills the COVID-19 virus.
One shop assistant in Pyongyang said she was unlikely to catch the virus from cash anyway because she wears rubber gloves when she works.
“I have no idea if the money is really sterilized even if I stick it in the machine, and I’m just out USD 3,000 [to pay for the device],” she said.
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