April 18, 2024
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Money matters: The three-tiered system of 1980s North Korean currency

Won came different forms, but the redder your money the better in 1980s Pyongyang

Being born into a Marxist country, the present author believes that material conditions are very important. It was therefore of great interest to me to relate how the foreign population of Pyongyang lived while I was there in the mid-1980s.

At that time, North Korea had a rather unusual three-tier currency system, which was partially inspired by similar systems in contemporary China and the USSR.

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