North Korea revamped its national currency for the first time in 17 years, reports said yesterday — a move that appeared aimed at reviving its economy by curbing inflation and black-market trading.
North Korea revalued its currency at an exchange rate between old and new notes of 100 to 1, Xinhua news agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang, citing a verbal notice yesterday from the North’s Foreign Ministry to foreign embassies in Pyongyang.
The exchange of old notes started on Monday and will continue until Sunday, Xinhua reported. It said no reason was provided for the sudden change.
Xinhua said state-run shops in Pyongyang were closed yesterday morning, with one saleswoman saying the shops would reopen a week later after new prices for commodities were set by the government.
The currency reform drove residents in Pyongyang to rush to black markets to convert stashed-away money into dollars and Chinese yuan, Yonhap News Agency said in Seoul, citing unidentified North Korean traders operating in China.
Yonhap said the move was aimed at fighting inflation and flushing out money traded on the black market.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper speculated that the move was part of leader Kim Jong-il’s efforts to tighten control over his nation as he prepares to hand over power to one of his three known sons.
Analysts called it a significant move toward economic reform for a nation with a stagnating economy and millions going hungry.
“The aim is to flush out money being traded on the black market and to reinvest it in the public sector,” said Dong Yong-sueng, a senior fellow at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS