North Korea has issued vehicle registration plates for all government and privately owned vehicles since 1947. The system is loosely based on that found in Japan insofar as numerical prefixes are applied to denote a particular type or class of vehicle.
Plate types
Abbreviation Romanization of abbreviation Full name Hanja Romanization of full name Translation 평양 P’yŏngyang 평양시 P’yŏngyang Chikhalsi Pyongyang City 라선 Rasŏn 라선시 Rasŏn T’ŭkpyŏlsi Rason City 평남 P’yŏngnam 평안남도 P’yŏng’annamdo South Pyongan Province 평북 P’yŏngbuk 평안북도 P’yŏng’anbukto North Pyongan Province 자강 Chagang 자강도 Chagangdo Chagang Province 황남 Hwangnam 황해남도 Hwanghaenamdo South Hwanghae Province 황북 Hwangbuk 황해북도 Hwanghaebukto North Hwanghae Province 강원 Kangwŏn 강원도 Kangwŏndo Kangwon Province 함남 Hamnam 함경남도 Hamgyŏngnamdo South Hamgyong Province 함북 Hambuk 함경북도 Hamgyŏngbukto North Hamgyong Province 량강 Ryanggang 량강도 Ryanggangdo Ryanggang Province 남포 Namp'o 남포시 Namp'o T’ŭkpyŏlsi Nampo City 개성 Kaesŏng 개성시 Kaesŏng T'ŭkpyŏlsi Kaesong City
North Korean regulations also prescribe license plate codes for the seven provinces it claims in the territory controlled by South Korea. While all of these claimed provinces were briefly controlled (albeit not always in full) by North Korea in 1950, during the first phase of the Korean War, it is unknown whether plates with these codes were actually issued by the North Korean authorities.
Abbreviation Romanization of abbreviation Full name Hanja Romanization of full name Translation 충남 Ch’ungnam 충청남도 P’yŏng’annamdo South Ch'ungch'ŏng Province 충북 Ch’ungbuk 충청북도 P’yŏng’anbukto North Ch'ungch'ŏng Province 경기 Kyŏnggi 경기도 Kyŏnggido Kyŏnggi Province 경남 Kyŏngnam 경상남도 Kyŏngsangnamdo South Kyŏngsang Province 경북 Kyŏngbuk 경상북도 Kyŏngsangbukto North Kyŏngsang Province 전남 Chŏnnam 전라남도 Chŏllanamdo South Chŏlla Province 전북 Chŏnbuk 전라북도 Chŏllabukto North Chŏlla Province
Private Privately owned vehicles display yellow plates with black characters. The first two denote the place of registration in the Chosongul script. The remainder are the vehicle's actual registration number. Early examples contained up to four digits. Those issued since 1992 can have up to five digits split into two groups by a hyphen.
Example of a private plate issued in Pyongyang before 1992 평양 1450
Example of a post-1992 series private plate issued in South Pyongan Province 평남 48-366
Example of a current 2016 series private plate issued in Pyongyang 평양-4506
State-owned State-owned vehicles and state-owned enterprises vehicles follow the same format as the current private series, except that they display blue plates with white characters (prior to 2016, these were white plates with black characters). The first digit specifies the vehicle type, and the hyphen which separates the groups is optional. The prefix 4 has never been used – possibly because it is considered unlucky in Korea and most of East Asia. Taxis and cars share the same prefix, except the former will only be followed by three digits, whilst the latter can have up to five.
The following table explains which prefixes are allocated to which vehicles.
Numerical prefix Vehicle type1x-xxxBus2-xxxTaxi2x-xxx(x)Car3x-xxxHGV5Ambulance or fire appliance6Police or municipal vehicle7-xxMotorcycle
Example of a series bus plate issued in Pyongyang before 2016 평양 15-421
Example of a current series bus plate issued in Pyongyang since 2016 평양 15-421
Pre-2016 series state-owned HGV plate issued in North Hamgyong Province 함북 33-968
Current 2016 series state-owned HGV plate issued in North Hamgyong Province 함북 33-968
Pre-1992 motorcycle plate issued in North Hamgyong Province (note that these are black on yellow) 함북 7–16
Diplomatic Ambassadorial and diplomatic vehicles are furnished with plates containing white characters on a green background (formerly, two shades of blue have been observed in use, and are illustrated in the examples which follow). The first character is the Chosongul syllable 외 (oe, literal meaning: 'outside'). This is followed by up to five digits separated by a hyphen. The first two digits indicate the embassy.
Former series diplomatic plate issued to staff at the Hungarian embassy 외 07–151
Pre-2016 series diplomatic plate issued to the Indonesian ambassador (note the additional hyphen and different shade of blue) 외-19 - 01
Current 2016 series diplomatic plate issued to the Indonesian ambassador 외 19 - 0001
Foreign-owned Foreign-owned vehicles owned by the resident foreign nationals living in North Korea (usually foreign businessmen) are furnished with plates containing white characters on a red background. As is the case with diplomatic plates, the first character is the Chosongul syllable 외 (oe, literal meaning: 'outside'). This is followed by up to six digits separated by a hyphen.
Current 2016 series foreign-owned plate issued to a resident foreign businessman 외 22–0836
Military Ordinary personnel vehicles of the Korean People's Army (e.g. trucks and cars) are issued with plates composed entirely of white numbers (separated into two groups by a hyphen) on a black background. A newer series, which is identical those found on state-owned vehicles, is known to exist – the key difference being that the prefix digit does not reflect the vehicle type. Just as is the case in Russia, the registration mark is painted in large characters on the rear of the vehicle above its regular plate.
Regular military personnel plate 5581 – 4218
New-style military personnel plate issued in Pyongyang 평양 53–2621
Heavy duty military vehicles (e.g. TELs and tanks) are not issued with registration plates. Instead, the mark is painted or stencilled onto the actual chassis with white paint.
A series of 'provisional' or 'temporary' plates exists for military vehicles which are used in a testing capacity. These are produced in the same convention as plates for state-owned vehicles but feature a red encircled star in the centre plus two diagonal bars. The words 'People's Army' ('인민군') and 'Test' ('시험') feature in the lower-right corner of the plate.
Trolleybuses Trolleybuses are fitted with large white plates composed of nothing more than a three-digit mark. This mark corresponds with the vehicle's unit or fleet number. Because they are unable to leave the confines of the town or city where they are based, it is not uncommon for trolleybuses in other parts of the country to carry the same mark.
Current series trolleybus registration plate 902
Kŭmgangsan Special Zone Between 2002 and 2023, vehicles – specifically buses and minibuses – stationed in the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region were issued with green plates with white characters bearing the word 'Kŭmgangsan' (Mount Kumgang) in Chosongul, followed by four digits. 금강산 2–426
Red Cross Vehicles used by delegates and staff of the International Red Cross Movement are fitted with blue plates featuring the Chosongul phonetic transliteration of the abbreviation 'RC' (아르씨), followed by a hyphen and serial number, in white.
아르씨-12
United Nations Vehicles used by U.N. delegates display black plates which feature the word 'UNICEF' ('유니쎄프' Yunissepŭ) rendered in Chosongul, followed by a hyphen and a serial number, in white. Other UN agencies follow the same pattern, with the agency's name written in Korean transcription (e.g. WHO, UNDP, UNOCHA, etc.) 유니쎄프-20
VIP plates A special series of registration plates exists for vehicles which ferry high ranking state and party officials, plus other VIPs. These plates are always prefixed with the combination 7•27 (representing July 27 – the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War) followed by 3 digits (all rendered in white) on either a blue or black background, and do not carry a prefix denoting their province of origin. Traffic marshals frequently salute these vehicles when they pass.
Current 2016 series VIP plate 7•27701
7•27658
See also Automotive industry in North Korea Transport in North Korea
References
External links License Plates of North Korea