New North Korea's won were revealed on December 2009 and some people claimed that the “currency reform” is being done for the workers. Some analysts said its also aims to curb runaway inflation and clamp down on the street markets that have sprung up in the tightly controlled nation. Jeong Kwang-min, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul said this move is to pave the way for Kim Jong-il to hand power to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, and to ensure he inherits a stable economy.
When the Pyongyang residents heard the news, they rushing to the black market to convert hoarded bills into US dollars and Chinese yuan, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified North Korean traders operating in neighbouring China. North Korea announced on state radio that the exchange rate would be set at 100 old won to 1 new won, one foreign diplomat said. Residents will only be allowed to exchange 150,000 won for the new currency, according to South Korea's Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper and other media outlets monitoring North Korean radio.
North Korean currency now features a 5,000, 2,000, 1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 10 and 5 won bill, plus a 1 won coin, and a 50, 10, 5 and 1 jeon coin. On the front of the 5,000 won bill there is Kim Il Sung’s portrait, with Mangyongdae, Kim Il Sung’s birth place on the back. On the front of the 2,000 won lies Kim Jong Il’s alleged birth place, a log cabin on Mt. Baekdu, and Jong Il Peak, which is located behind the cabin, and on the back side is the top of Mt. Baekdu. Kim Jong Suk’s birth place in Hoiryeong is on the front of the 1,000 won, and on the back a lake, Samji, where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il had a famous photo taken.The Triumphal Arch in Pyongyang is on the 500 won, the Chollima statue, also in Pyongyang, is on the 200 won, a peony flower, the North’s national flower, is on the 100 won. The front of the 50 won bill features the triumvirate of an engineer, farmer and working intellectual, and on the back is the Monument to the Founding of the Chosun (North Korea) Workers' Party in Pyongyang. On the 10 won bill, there are the three branches of the military and the Victory Monument, also in Pyongyang. The smallest bill, worth 5 won, shows a scientist and a student on the front and a hydroelectric dam on the back. The head sides of the coins show the emblem of North Korea, whilst Kimjongilia, Kimilsungia or the national flower is carved on the tails.
On the bills of 50, 10, and 5 won and 1 won coin and 50 and 10 jeon coins, there is the issuing year, which happens to be “Juche 91, 2002.” Therefore, there is a high possibility that they were printed in 2002 when the July 1st Economic Management Reform Measures were adopted. However, on bills worth 5,000, 2,000, 1,000, 500, 200 and 100 won and 1 jeon and 5 jeon coins, “Juche 97, 2008” was printed as the issuing year. In fact, there have been rumors almost every year that a redenomination would be carried out, so there is the possibility that the authorities produced the new denominations in 2002 and have been waiting for the appropriate time to release them. Indeed, in July, 2002, one of the key reasons why prices soared and the currency lost so much value was a rumored redenomination.
Source: guardian.co.uk, dailynk.com
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