North Korea has redenominated its national currency, the won, taking two zeros off the nominal value of banknotes in a bid to curb inflation and fight black-market currency trading.
An official in the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said the North Korean Foreign Ministry has notified foreign embassies that old notes must be exchanged by December 6, with 1,000-won notes being replaced with 10-won notes.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the sudden revaluation has shocked the local market, prompting a rush of people seeking to convert their money to Chinese yuan or U.S. dollars on the black market.
"Many citizens in Pyongyang were taken aback and in confusion. Those who were worried about their hidden assets rushed to the black market to exchange them with yuan or U.S. dollars. The yuan and the dollar jumped," Yonhap quoted a North Korean trader with China as saying.
MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
