North Korean authorities recently installed a toll system on the Pyongyang-Wonsan tourist highway and will soon require all road users to pay to use the nationwide highway network, information gathered by NK News since Saturday shows.

The roll-out of the toll network – which appears to be the country’s first – will provide authorities with a new source of revenue at a time of increasing financial hardship for the North.

“The highway between Pyongyang and Wonsan will be turned into a tollway this year,” a source who requested anonymity and saw new infrastructure on the highway told NK News.

“Users