The devaluation of the North Korean currency–implemented without prior warning in November, 2009–confirmed something that had been increasingly apparent since 2002: among the most pressing issues facing ordinary North Koreans today is ensuring access to secure stores of value for their assets and one of the most effective means by which to do so, in particular for urban residents, is via the increasingly popular medium of foreign currency.
Foreign currency access is a crucial tool for the North Korean people not only because inflationary pressures are putting the North Korean Won (KPW) under increasing strain, but because the North Korean government has demonstrated a readiness when necessary to take the assets of the majority for the benefit of a minority.
The devaluation of the North Korean currency–implemented without prior warning in November, 2009–confirmed something that had been increasingly apparent since 2002: among the most pressing issues facing ordinary North Koreans today is ensuring access to secure stores of value for their assets and one of the most effective means by which to do so, in particular for urban residents, is via the increasingly popular medium of foreign currency.
Foreign currency access is a crucial tool for the North Korean people not only because inflationary pressures are putting the North Korean Won (KPW) under increasing strain, but because the North Korean government has demonstrated a readiness when necessary to take the assets of the majority for the benefit of a minority.
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Christopher Green is a lecturer at Leiden University in the Netherlands and heads up the Korean Peninsula work of the International Crisis Group (ICG). Christopher was formerly Manager of International Affairs at the Daily NK.