# [[Money]] in [[North Korea]] ### [[USD]]/[[KPW]] (North Korean Won) exchange rate https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=KPW&view=5Y 1 USD = 899.974 KPW on Dec 30, 2021, 03:07 UTC ### N. Korea’s new foreign currency vouchers still facing an uphill battle to broader circulation https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-new-foreign-currency-vouchers-still-facing-uphill-battle-broader-circulation/ Links: [[Daily NK]] Though North Korean authorities recently issued “foreign currency vouchers” to bolster state finances, they have yet to put them into full-scale circulation. The authorities reportedly will decide how widely to use them after trial operations at select foreign exchange shops, but relevant preparations to put them into wider use seem wanting. Multiple Daily NK sources in North Korea recently said customers at foreign exchange shops and department stores in Pyongyang and other major cities now pay using the vouchers. However, the authorities have issued no official information regarding how to use or exchange the coupons. To pay using foreign currency in North Korea department stores or shops, you first change your foreign currency into the coupons at temporary windows and then make the final payment using the vouchers. However, consumers are reacting negatively to the shops’ demands that they change their foreign currency into the vouchers. They find the demand perplexing. “We could just pay using our foreign currency,” they say. “Why should we have to change it into coupons?” **Shop employees are trying to convince customers to use the vouchers. We are not telling you to hold on to the cash coupons, they assure them, but rather use them immediately to pay after changing your cash. “It might be a bit of pain, but worry not and pay using the vouchers,” they say.** **North Korean authorities are avoiding dramatic policies such as forcing people to use the coupons or banning the use of foreign currency, apparently concerned that such measures would spark resistance or ill side-effects when North Koreans have little faith in the local currency due to past currency reforms.** The authorities are likely trying to get locals to voluntarily use the vouchers, convincing them that they are a safe means of payment. The bigger problem, however, is that an insufficient number of coupons were issued for the trial program. A source in Pyongyang said he was told to use the vouchers at a department store, so he went to a designated spot next to a foreign exchange shop to change his money. However, the employee at the spot said they did not have enough coupons, and simply stamped a slip of paper to show he had changed his money. In the end, he bought what he wanted using not a cash coupon, but a piece of paper with a stamp showing he had paid. Meanwhile, North Korean authorities are reportedly offering favorable exchange rates to encourage people to use the vouchers, changing them for slightly better-than-market rates against the dollar. For example, the current market rate is KPW 5,000 to the dollar. But if you exchange USD 100 to cash coupons, you get KPW 505,000. However, not all currency exchanges nationwide are uniformly using these favorable rates. It appears the favorable rates were temporarily employed in some regions to encourage locals to use the coupons. In principle, North Korean authorities have authorized state money changers and certain exchange centers – called “changed money shops” – in foreign exchange shops or department stores to issue the cash coupons. However, the sources say nobody is voluntarily changing their foreign exchange for vouchers unless they are immediately purchasing goods using foreign currency. A source said he understood that the country’s central bank is holding continuous discussions with the Central Committee over detailed rules regarding the cash coupons. He further claimed with most locals having little faith or interest in state-issued vouchers, it will not be easy to put them into broader circulation. #### Thoughts - The voucher sounds like a scam - The North Koreans are told: "We are not telling you to hold on to the cash coupons, they assure them, but rather use them immediately to pay after changing your cash." But the end goal is of course to have them hold onto them - Regimes with weak currencies, especially authoritarian ones, tend to set up scams for extracting hard currency such as US dollars, while forcing the people to pay their shite national currency - see what happened in [[Cuba]] ### North Korea steps up efforts to increase public trust in money vouchers https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-steps-up-efforts-increase-public-trust-money-vouchers/ By [[Daily NK]] North Korean authorities have recently stepped up efforts to alleviate public distrust in money vouchers, or donpyo. **Even the country’s government officials are uncertain why the vouchers were issued**, which has led the authorities to convene lectures aimed at educating them about the new currency. South Korean media first revealed the creation of donpyo in September. Initially, observers speculated that the vouchers were a strategy to absorb foreign currency, comparing them to “donpyo exchanged for foreign exchange” issued in the late 1970s. Recently, however, the leading opinion is that they are temporary banknotes to ensure the smooth circulation of currency. **However, ordinary people and even cadres have failed to comprehend what the money vouchers are for, and many are avoiding them altogether. Amid growing distrust in the “untrustworthy banknotes,” merchants, for example, are treating KWP 5,000 vouchers like they are worth just KPW 2,500 or KPW 3,000.** - lmfao what a scam North Korean authorities reportedly declared during these meetings that “_donpyo_ are _supyo_,” and spent a lot of time explaining what this means. _Supyo_ are checks. North Korea has never issued a bank-consigned, personal-use marketable security under the name “_supyo_.” The country has issued _haengpyo_, which are similar to _supyo_, but _haengpyo_ are generally used by companies to purchase raw materials. As a result, ordinary people and even high-ranking cadres have been unable to grasp the concept that “_donpyo_ are _supyo_.” The lectures were aimed at providing a detailed explanation of the concept. However, the lecturers did not disclose that other countries use high denomination checks. This is noteworthy because it reveals the limits of North Korea’s unique monolithic leadership system – late leader and national founder Kim Il Sung’s face is on the KPW 5,000 bill, making it awkward to issue higher denomination banknotes. - roflmao