AP Exclusive: The sad saga of North Korea’s ATMs

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The airport in the North Korean capital has two ATMs but according to bank officials, because of new Chinese sanctions, they don’t work.

ATMs are an alien enough concept in North Korea that those in the shiny new airport have a video screen near the top showing how they work. The video is in Korean, but the machines, which are meant primarily for Chinese visitors, don’t give out cash in the North Korean currency.

If sanctions are in fact why the ATMs aren’t working, that could be a sign that Beijing is squeezing Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs.

China is isolated North Korea’s main economic lifeline and has been under increasing pressure to rein in its neighbor. The North’s finance and banking sectors are major targets.