With the increased use of the Chinese yuan
and U.S. dollar within North Korea, the local currency is considered much less
valuable by many, including young children, especially when it comes to the lower
denomination coins, a source in the North told Daily NK on April 10th.
In response to the question, “How valuable is
the North Korean won?” asked by a source in North Pyongan Province, not only
adults but also children as young as kindergartners shook their heads,
indicating they do not consider it to be of much value. “The women who sell
goods at the markets will even say the day is unlucky if they find a North
Korean coin on the streets,” she said.
She added, “Many believe that the first
sale of the day determines the daily outlook; a purchase from a male customer
is seen as a sign that a given vendor will make a lot of money that day. However, if they
pick up a North Korean coin before anyone buys from them then, rather strangely, business is bad for the day.”
Games are really the only worth North Korean coins hold at this point, according to the source. 100 KPW [0.01 USD] or 200 KPW [0.02 USD] are used to play popular games such as damalchigi [a
game in which you try to flip over the opponents’ coin with your breath] or ddangddameokki [a game in which one tries to win over territory by flicking coins into ridges
in the ground].
Ice cream sold on the streets, generally bought by students, fetches 1,000 [0.13 USD] to 2,000 KPW [0.25 USD] now, essentially stripping small coinage of any viable use. “Some students even joke that the
coins could become precious antiques in the next few decades and that they
should try to preserve them,” she noted.
In order to reduce people’s dependency on
foreign currency, North Korea has repeatedly attempted to tighten its control on the use of
overseas money–with little success. This is because the local won has yet to regain its credibility after taking a nosedive in 2009–a catastrophic consequence of the state’s botched currency reform. In today’s North Korea, foreign currency reigns over all business transactions, from wholesale transactions to truck delivery fares and price tags displayed at the markets.
“Some senior citizens even jest that the state
removed the portrait of founder Kim Il Sung from the 5,000 KPW bill out of fear
that his dignity would be undermined along with the local currency,” the source
said, adding that many worry about the stability of a country whose currency is worth little more than “scraps of paper.”
