• North Korea to revalue currency in effort to stop 'illegal trading'
    26 replies, posted
[quote]SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has taken confiscatory steps to wipe out unofficial economic activity and suppress inflation, issuing a revalued currency and sharply limiting the amount of old money people could exchange for new bills, South Korean news reports said Tuesday. The measures appeared to be a crude form of shock therapy intended to severely punish people involved in black market trading, which had begun to take root in North Korea in recent years as the country’s central planning system broke down. If carried out as described by South Korean and Chinese news agencies, the adjustment would wipe two zeroes off the value of the North Korean currency, the won, and allow people to exchange only about 100,000 old won for the new notes. That would effectively decimate private stores of cash wealth in local currency. At the official exchange rate, 100,000 won is the equivalent of just $690, and at the black market rate it is worth only about $35. The revaluation and exchange restrictions set off street protests in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, forcing the authorities to revise slightly upward the amount of currency people could exchange, according to unconfirmed reports on South Korean news Web sites. There was no official announcement of the measure in North Korea’s official media, and the accounts of protests in the North, which would be rare in the tightly policed country, could not be confirmed. “As people rushed to swap money, commercial activities have virtually come a standstill,” Good Neighbors, a civic group based in Seoul that monitors North Korea through informants inside the country, said in a statement. “The purpose of the reform is to kill private market activities that stoked anti-socialism.” Choi Soo-young, an expert on the North Korean economy at the government-financed Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said: “The primary aim is to control inflation. But the North also wants to stop the market from prospering too fast.” For a time, those nascent signs of private-sector activity were cited as evidence that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, might be inclined to follow the example of China, the North’s neighbor and most important backer, which began to move away from its dysfunctional central planning system in the late 1970s. At that time, Beijing first allowed entrepreneurs to supplement the country’s state-run production and distribution systems. [b]The North Korean officials also saw the increasingly vibrant markets as a conduit of capitalist ideas and outside influence on the tightly controlled populace.[/b] By wiping out much of the wealth that traders have accumulated, the currency measure could anger many people who lose money. But from the government’s perspective it could have the effect of reducing a growing gap between rich and poor among citizens, Mr. Choi said. The measure will have an immediate but short-lived impact in fighting inflation, Mr. Choi and Mr. Dong said. But it could also worsen the North’s already acute shortages by discouraging the markets, which have emerged as an important source of food for North Koreans.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/global/02korea.html?_r=1&hp[/url] Ah... it's always good to hear from North Korea every now and then...
At least there are some protests going on.
communist pigs
Good for us.
This is *a* solution to black market trading, but the only difference it will make is a slight delay while they get the new money, if they even bother.
[QUOTE=Figgis Fiddis;18687796]communist pigs[/QUOTE] Oh don't make me laugh.
[QUOTE=Detective P;18689233]Oh don't make me laugh.[/QUOTE] they aren't communist, no way! guys, they aren't communist, please believe me :(
The forecast today will be high unemployment with a chance of stagflation.
kill all communists line them up and execute by firing squad every single one
HOYL FUCK ITS WORKING ^_^ Edit: oh shit, it really says my currency has no value. Im so fucked Edit: im crying. we are gonna be poor. oh fuck oh fuck i need to email Kim Jong-il and demand a refund
[QUOTE=SnakeHead;18689262]they aren't communist, no way! guys, they aren't communist, please believe me :([/QUOTE] I belive you because they still have rich and poor there infact unless your with the army you are to die to lack of food
kill all reds
For the record, North Korea is not communist, they're fascist monarchies under the guise of their so-called Jusche system of 'socialism'. Socialism in the same way that the Germans had National Socialism.
[QUOTE=Doug52392;18689546]HOYL FUCK ITS WORKING ^_^ Edit: oh shit, it really says my currency has no value. Im so fucked Edit: im crying. we are gonna be poor. oh fuck oh fuck i need to email Kim Jong-il and demand a refund[/QUOTE] That was a pretty good one. :golfclap:
[QUOTE=GarrysDad;18689575]I belive you because they still have rich and poor there infact unless your with the army you are to die to lack of food[/QUOTE] better dead than Red.
North Korea AKA hell
At this point, renegotiating the terms of the DPRK's 'military first' policy is far more important than economic reform.
[QUOTE=Doug52392;18689546]HOYL FUCK ITS WORKING ^_^ Edit: oh shit, it really says my currency has no value. Im so fucked Edit: im crying. we are gonna be poor. oh fuck oh fuck i need to email Kim Jong-il and demand a refund[/QUOTE] :cawg:
Just because the Leader of North Korea claims North Korea to be a communist country doesn't mean the people who live in North Korea are communist.
[QUOTE=SnakeHead;18689262]they aren't communist, no way! guys, they aren't communist, please believe me :([/QUOTE] you don't understand anything sorry guy
[QUOTE=SnakeHead;18689262]they aren't communist, no way! guys, they aren't communist, please believe me :([/QUOTE] Having a good time with your head up your ass?
totalitarian
'Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea' The name makes me laugh whenever I hear it
[QUOTE=Figgis Fiddis;18687796]communist pigs[/QUOTE] They aren't communists. It's a dynasty. Kim Jong Il is basically the emperor of North Korea, not a chairman.
[QUOTE=pointyface;18693636]'Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea' The name makes me laugh whenever I hear it[/QUOTE] Just like "Democratic Republic of the Congo", and "People's Republic of China." The irony of names countries give to themselves.
For all idiots who say "Kill all communists": North Korea aren't communists. They're a mix of stupid and fucked-up.
[QUOTE=SomeRandomGuy18;18693750]Just like "Democratic Republic of the Congo", and "People's Republic of China." The irony of names countries give to themselves.[/QUOTE] [url]http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlein6pxzsy4jta[/url] This page describes the phenomenon well.
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