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North Korea has issued registration plates for all government and privately owned vehicles since 1947.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Plate types

Abbreviation	Full name	Hanja	Romanization	Translation
평양	평양시	平壤直轄市	P’yŏngyang Chikhalsi	Pyongyang City
라선	라선시	羅先特別市	Rasŏn T’ŭkpyŏlsi	Rason City
평남	평안남도	平安南道	P’yŏng’annamdo	South Pyongan Province
평북	평안북도	平安北道	P’yŏng’anbukto	North Pyongan Province
자강	자강도	慈江道	Chagangdo	Chagang Province
황남	황해남도	黃海南道	Hwanghaenamdo	South Hwanghae Province
황북	황해북도	黃海北道	Hwanghaebukto	North Hwanghae Province
강원	강원도	江原道	Kangwŏndo	Kangwon Province
함남	함경남도	咸鏡南道	Hamgyŏngnamdo	South Hamgyong Province
함북	함경북도	咸鏡北道	Hamgyŏngbukto	North Hamgyong Province
량강	량강도	兩江道	Ryanggangdo	Ryanggang Province
남포	남포시	南浦特別市	Namp'o T’ŭkpyŏlsi	Nampo City
개성	개성시	開城特別市	Kaesŏng T'ŭkpyŏlsi	Kaesong City

Private

Privately owned vehicles display orange 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.^[2]

Example of a private plate issued in Pyongyang before 1992

평양 1450

Example of a current series (post-1992) private plate issued in South Pyongan Province

평남 48-366

State-owned

State-owned vehicles follow the same format as the current private series, except that 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 type
1x-xxx	Bus
2-xxx	Taxi
2x-xxx(x)	Car
3x-xxx	HGV
5	Ambulance or fire appliance
6	Police or municipal vehicle
7-xx	Motorcycle

Example of a current series bus plate issued in Pyongyang

평양 15-421

Current 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 blue background (two shades 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

Current series diplomatic plate issued to the Indonesian ambassador (note the additional hyphen and different shade of blue)

외-19 - 01

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

903

Kŭmgangsan Special Zone

Vehicles – specifically buses and minibuses – stationed in the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region are 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^{[clarification needed]} are fitted with blue plates featuring the Chosongul phonetic transliteration of the abbreviation 'RC' (아르씨), followed by a hyphen and serial number, in white.^[3]^{[better source needed]}

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 (ex. WHO, UNDP, UNOCHA, etc) ^[4]^{[better source needed]}

유니쎄프-20