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North Korea bans foreign currency use

10 January 2012 13:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. North Korean authorities are instituting a strict ban on the use of foreign currencies while calling it the last order of Kim Jong-il.

On the 2nd Daily NK, which reports on North Korean news, said that according to a report in the province of Hambgeyongbuk-do, â€œcalling it a deathbed order, the authorities have warned that they will severely punish anyone caught using foreign currency such as dollars and yuan.â€

The general view is that currency reform is responsible for the collapse in trade in North Korean currency. In November of 2009 North Korea converted all 100 won bills into 1 won bills, but this led to severe inflation and citizen resistance.

Kim Jong-il, who was never subject to economic difficulty, normally left economic matters to bureaucrats because â€œKim Il-sung told him never to be involved in economic matters.â€ Therefore, heads repeatedly rolled when results were bad or openness was discussed.

Park Nam-gil was purged from the Workerâ€™s Party after the failure of the currency reform and replaced by Hong Seok-hyeong.