North Korea revalues currency, destroying personal savings

By Blaine Harden
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
TOKYO -- Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country's currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings.
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In the past year, North Korea has put increasing pressure on local markets, closing several and limiting the range of goods that can be sold in them.

The government has also criminalized everyday market behavior while creating a new kind of gulag for those it deems economic criminals, according to a report released this fall by the East-West Center, a research organization established by Congress to promote understanding of Asia.

The report says security forces in North Korea have broad discretion to detain without trial nearly anyone who buys or sells in the local markets. But if traders can pay bribes, security officials will often leave them alone, the report says.

If the currency move substantially cripples the operation of local markets in the North, the consequences could be severe for the millions who depend on them for food. U.N. officials have estimated that as much as half the calories consumed by North Koreans come from food bought in markets.

South Korean officials said last month that North Korea appears to be on the brink of another severe food crisis, with stocks of food likely to run short by March.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120101841.html?hpid=artslot

Nice of him.

Good report winehippie. it is good to see what is happening elsewhere.

You know I thought as we got further into the 2000's people might actually wake up, nah, no way, genocide just keeps on keeping on.

Murderers.