December 07, 2023
Evergreen

Unofficial financial services emerging in North Korea: Experts

Experts say new 'money masters' leading to sudden economic change, but warn of investment risks

A new class of wealthy citizens are currently fueling changes within the North Korean economy, leading to the creation of unofficial financial services, an international panel of experts said today at a conference in Seoul.

Speaking at the “Doing Business in North Korea: Business and Finance in the DPRK” hosted by the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), the experts concluded that looser controls on private capital were creating a new class of rich North Koreans, called  donju (money masters).