🇰🇵 Sending to Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)¶
KP · PRK · +850 · East Asia
Restricted — sanctions FATF high risk National format
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Sanctions Restrictions
GIB does not process payments to this destination. Submissions will be blocked by sanctions screening. Any exception requires written pre-authorization from GIB Compliance before submission.
FATF High Risk
This jurisdiction appears on the FATF High-Risk list. Enhanced due diligence is required.
Required information¶
For your end users
DPRK is on the FATF black list and subject to comprehensive OFAC and UN sanctions. Wires to DPRK are not permitted. Consult your compliance team immediately if you encounter a transaction touching this jurisdiction.
Last reviewed by GIB compliance on 2026-05-20. Reference material only.
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Currency
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Typical settlement
N/A — wires to DPRK are blocked.
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SWIFT BIC
Optional
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Local clearing
N/A — country blocked by sanctions; no cross-border wire access.
Account format¶
How beneficiary account numbers are structured for Korea (Democratic People's Republic of). Failure to match this format is the single most common reason wires are rejected at the destination.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Format tier | National format |
| Length | N/A — cross-border banking not available. |
Routing identifiers¶
Which routing codes the wire-creation API call must include for Korea (Democratic People's Republic of).
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| SWIFT BIC | Optional |
| None | Optional |
| Local clearing | N/A — country blocked by sanctions; no cross-border wire access. |
Purpose of payment¶
Put a code from the ISO 20022 list in <Purp><Cd> (purpose_code).
Available codes:
N/A — wires to DPRK are blocked.
Remittance info¶
Extra content the regulator requires inside the free-text remittance field, beyond the purpose-of-payment code.
N/A — wires to DPRK are blocked.
Compliance triggers¶
Beneficiary tax-ID requirements and rules that activate at certain payment amounts.
| Trigger | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Residency restrictions | Comprehensive sanctions; wires to DPRK beneficiaries are not permitted under OFAC, UN, EU, and UK regimes. |
Operational notes¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Currencies accepted | KPW |
| Typical settlement | N/A — wires to DPRK are blocked. |
Known issues:
- Country is on the FATF black list (high-risk jurisdiction subject to a call for action).
- Subject to comprehensive OFAC, UN, EU, and UK sanctions.
Common rejection reasons¶
Documented patterns that cause this country's banks to return wires. Universal reasons (sanctions holds, missing BIC) aren't repeated here.
All wires to DPRK are blocked by sanctions screening.
Any attempted transaction triggers immediate compliance escalation.
Validate before you send¶
Check identifiers before you submit. The IBAN check runs in your browser (format plus the ISO 13616 MOD-97 check digit). GIB's API checks the IBAN format for countries where an IBAN is required. The BIC lookup searches GIB's BIC directory and needs a dashboard login.
BIC lookup
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References¶
First-party sources — central banks, FX regulators, ISO registries. Always re-verify against these before pushing volume to a new corridor.
Disclaimer
These country guides aggregate information from central banks, regulators, and industry-standard references. Global Innovations Bank reviews them on a rolling cadence and notes the verification date on each page. Payment-corridor rules change between releases, so we cannot guarantee continued accuracy.
Always verify against the primary sources linked in the References section before going live in a new corridor. Re-check applicable sanctions lists (OFAC, EU, UK, UN consolidated, and any state-level requirements) at the time of payment, since designations shift between our refreshes.
For fintech partners on GIB's sponsor-bank rails, these guides do not replace your BSA/AML, KYC, sanctions-screening, or transaction-monitoring obligations under your program agreement with GIB.
Nothing in this material constitutes legal, tax, or regulatory advice, and wire-acceptance decisions remain at the discretion of GIB Compliance and the destination bank.