from the Daily NK:
Recently, concerns mounted that a counterfeit $100 “supernote” was being used as “official currency” between North Korean traders.
For a while, the supernote was used in areas of China in common trade and drug smuggling. The counterfeit money began circulating in Jangmadang and then North Korean markets, as “unofficial forms of trade”.
As of early this year, the supernote circulated amongst North Korean common traders was valued at $70, and by June, had spread throughout the whole nation. It appears that the counterfeit money is being accepted as “income currency”.
This information was obtained by North Korean and Chinese tradesmen residing both in and outside of North Korea.
On July 26th, Park Chul Woong (pseudonym, 34), a Korean-Chinese merchant in Dandong, China said “It has been a while since counterfeit money has been used as a form of transaction in North Korea. Now, tradesmen use the supernote amongst themselves to do business”.
Park said “Even if you make a small deal of $1,000, this still equates to 600 sheets of North Korean 5,000 won notes. (The largest North Korean bill) As people do not want to carry this amount of money with them, merchants use the counterfeit money instead”.
Also, Park said “Merchants do not deal with North Korean currency as they do not trust it. When inflation rises rapidly as in 2002, merchants sit around and discuss how the money has no value. However, there is nothing you cannot do with the dollar. As the dollar is scarce, merchants have resorted to using fakes.”
The traders complain that the North Korean currency has lost its value so much, that if they were to use the money for trade at markets they would have to carry numerous bags of it. They also said “Every day the market price fluctuates dramatically. The more you trade with North Korean money, the greater the loss.”
No control of counterfeit money
Last May, Kim Young Man (pseudonym, 38), a Korean-Chinese who went to Shinuiju for an Investment Conference, said “North Korea is unhestitantly using the counterfeit $100 note as real $70. It is of concern as to how far they will take this.”
He said “Even business employees of the National Security Office or the Department of the People’s Armed Forces General Logistics Bureau use counterfeit when paying Chinese tradesman for products such as seafood and hand-made goods. If North Korean authorities discover that counterfeit money is circulating in North Korea on such a large scale, chaos could ensue.”
Also, he said “Merchants generally carry dollars. Rich merchants store their real currency in safekeeping and use counterfeit money for “exchange”. He continued, “Although the whole world has eradicated counterfeit money, North Korea is still far behind”.
At Dandong’s economic development zone, a Chinese tradesman said “The U.S. alleges that it will eradicate the counterfeit money, but there has been little change. The value of the counterfeit money at $70 is not depreciating”.
On the one hand, tradesmen say “Apart from the supernotes manufactured by North Korean authorities, computer-made supernotes have been discovered and rejected as a means of business.”
At present, it is difficult to estimate how much counterfeit money is circulating around North Korea. However, if the counterfeit money is accepted amongst common traders at Jangmadang, this means that the counterfeit currency has reached a large scale and is spreading further.
This substantiates the failure of the North Korean authority’s implementation of foreign transaction of the Euro in December, 2002.
Last July, at the Interpol Conference on counterfeit money in Riom, France, North Korea was marked as “a hotbed of counterfeit money”. It is expected that the U.S. will take drastic measures to control the counterfeit dollars circulating throughout North Korea as official currency.
