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| DPRK BANS POSSESION AND USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY |
| Posted Date : 2009-12-30 NK Brief No.09-12-30-1 |
Following on the heels of North Korea’s currency reform, authorities there have passed a measure banning the possession or use of U.S. dollars and other foreign monies.
When rumors of North Korea’s currency reform were first confirmed in the ‘Choson Sinbo’ (the newspaper of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) on December 4, the paper reported, “In the future, the exchange of foreign currency in shops, restaurants, etc. will be done away with, and stores visited by foreigners will need to exchange foreign currency for [North Korean] money at an exchange house.” It appears now that authorities have begun moving forward with this.
Quoting a source from the North Korean province North Hamgyeong, the website Daily NK reported on December 28 that just two days prior, the North’s Ministry of People’s Security issued an official notice banning any possession or spending of dollars, Euros, Yuan, and other overseas money. The notice was titled ‘Regarding the Strict Punishment of Those Overissuing Foreign Currency Within the Republic,’ and according to the announcement, individuals, trade offices, and even foreigners within North Korea are not allowed to spend foreign currency, and only banks are allowed to possess overseas notes.
According to the Daily NK report, this decision by the DPRK Cabinet means that spending or acquiring foreign currency through commercial activity is illegal, and authorities are confiscating any foreign currency currently held by individuals throughout the country. In addition, any foreign currency acquired by North Korean trade companies must be deposited into a bank within 24-hours, and if a trade office fails to do so, it will face legal punishment along with seizure of the funds.
At the same time the Ministry of People’s Security announced the new measure, notices were posted at each organization and company, as well as in public areas throughout the North. In addition, on December 28, ‘Open Radio for North Korea,’ a South Korea-based broadcaster transmitting programs for listeners inside North Korea, quoted a trader in China who deals with the North as saying that a notice had been handed down stating that no foreign currency could be used when trading with North Korea after January 1, 2010.
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