Great Confiscation Updates

Via the Daily NK and the North Korean-affiliated Chosun Sinbo, we can now see the new North Korean currency that will replace the hard-earned savings of millions of desperate people. Guess whose face is on the bill. You’ll be amazed.

More here. Personally, I think the coins look like Japanese Yen.

The Daily NK reports that the situation in North Korea continues to be chaotic and relays fragmentary reports of murders, suicides, and isolated outbreaks of dissent. The circulation of rumors fuels this, as the government’s policies as to the amounts that can be exchanged, and what citizens can do with their savings, continue to shift. The hope that the regime will relent may give North Koreans a reason to wait until the last minute to exchange their old currency, which means the tension could peak at or near the end of the exchange period.

The Times of London notes that even foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang are experiencing hardship because of this. All of the shops closed without notice, meaning those without food are getting hungry.

“It came as a great surprise to everyone,” one Western diplomat in Pyongyang told The Times. “Everything closed — no notice given. When we made inquiries we discovered it was because the currency was no longer valid. It’s really quite dramatic. [….]

“One of the worries our North Korean staff have is whether they will have enough food to get through to next week,” the manager of a foreign organisation in Pyongyang said. “Our employees have access to foreign currency but most people don’t and they could be in trouble. [Times of London]

Imagine what North Koreans must be enduring now.