Campus couples at Pyongyang’s universities have begun creating joint savings accounts, a trend that’s slowly catching on. These “couple accounts” symbolizing commitment and genuine affection have spread among university students, drawing public attention.
“With the new semester approaching on April 1, young campus couples in Pyongyang started making joint ‘promise accounts’ in mid-March, depositing fixed amounts monthly,” a Daily NK source in Pyongyang said recently. “The practice is quietly spreading like a trend.”
As more students pair up before the spring semester begins, this money-saving practice through couple accounts is gaining popularity.
Since 2020, all North Koreans over 18 can open bank accounts and receive cards—either individually or jointly with others—making couple accounts possible, the source explained.
“It’s become fashionable for university students to visit banks with their student IDs and open promise accounts when they start dating,” the source said. “Campus couples deposit money for dates or anniversary preparations, and they say it helps them develop a sense of responsibility and healthy attitudes about money.”
Students view these joint accounts as practical financial management rooted in trust and love, since couples must have confidence in each other to share accounts. The practice is especially popular among middle-class university students.
Today’s young people prefer partners with good financial sense, so managing a couple account offers insight into how their significant others handle money.
Students particularly appreciate that the accounts track individual contributions, allowing for clean division of savings if relationships end.
Many parents, however, worry about this trend. Already distrustful of banks, they fear potential money disputes between couples.
Young people dismiss these concerns as “old-fashioned thinking.” They believe they can separate emotions from finances and that accounts foster more mature relationships.
“Pyongyang university students today differ from their parents, who dated purely out of ‘revolutionary, comradely love,’” the source said. “Young couples now date with practical considerations and avoid causing each other financial harm.”
North Korean authorities reportedly aren’t concerned about or restricting this practice among students.
“On the contrary, young people are voluntarily using the state banking system and pooling their money while dating, so authorities don’t feel the need to intervene,” the source added.
April 02, 2025 at 11:36AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)