North Korea has executed a currency trader as part of a crackdown on foreign exchange markets, according to South Korea’s spy agency, as supreme leader Kim Jong Un tightens his grip over the economy.
Kim Byung-kee, a member of the South Korean National Assembly’s intelligence committee who was briefed by the intelligence service on Friday, said the execution was the latest in a series of “unreasonable” measures by Mr Kim as North Korea struggles under the Covid-19 pandemic and international sanctions.
The execution followed a near 20 per cent appreciation of North Korean won against the US dollar in recent months, one of the biggest movements in years, according to prices published by Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that tracks market rates in different North Korean cities. The sudden change highlights rising instability in the economy, worrying Pyongyang. 
Analysts said the local currency’s appreciation followed a crackdown on dollar-based transactions as Pyongyang strengthens control of the economy after years of market liberalisation.
Andrei Lankov, a North Korean expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, said there had been signs of “significant changes” in the currency situation since October after years of “remarkable financial stability”.
“For a long time under Kim Jong Un, they did not intervene with private businesses at all . . . they not merely tolerated but encouraged decentralisation, and the switch to market relations between industrial enterprises and individuals. Now they are trying to back-pedal,” he said.
Mr Lankov added that the execution would send a warning to the public about acting against the regime’s directions over foreign currency usage. Following Pyongyang’s catastrophic sudden currency revaluation in 2009, foreign currencies have become widely used in border trade and private market transactions, particularly the US dollar and the Chinese renminbi.
There is uncertainty among North Korean observers about the pandemic’s reach into the isolated state. Pyongyang has not publicly confirmed any Covid-19 cases after implementing a swift lockdown of its borders in January, ahead of most other countries. However, the claim of zero infections has been met with scepticism by international experts and officials.
The crackdown on forex traders and tightening of control over currency markets comes as Mr Kim struggles against the economic fallout from the pandemic and the subsequent plunge in trade with China. These challenges have been compounded by crippling economic sanctions and devastating typhoons and flooding this year.
Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a Seoul-based think-tank, said the change in approach was a blow to Mr Kim who had “claimed credit” for economic development since he took power in 2011.
“Between 2010 and 2017, North Korea’s level of imports was going up, the level of exports was going up and [Mr Kim] was showcasing major public projects in Pyongyang,” he said. “Now he cannot do that any more because he is running out of money. That is the reason why he is reasserting control over the market.”

https://www.ft.com/content/fa63988d-fe48-4f3e-932d-876a3523b220

mynd44

The worst country I will never step my feet is North Korea. That place is worst and hotter than Djibouti

North Korean men are pussy ass niggas. only one man doing all this rubbish. it's better to die as a Lion than to leave as a sheep

Kim is a monster

Fahdiga:
North Korean men are pussy ass niggas. only one man doing all this rubbish. it's better to die as a Lion than to leave as a sheep

In that same logic, Nigerian men are pussy ass Niggas too, Only few politicians doing all this rubbish to us and we can't even do anything, All our politicians from the senates to the reps, Cancellors, Governors, President, Even Soldiers, Police, Airforce, When summed up, they're not up to 5 million in population


Now imagine, The total population of Nigeria is close to 170million, So 170million people are being made to suffer by this minority which are less than 5million in population!!

Nigeria Men are the real Pussy ass nigger,

Raydos:


In that same logic, Nigerian men are pussy ass Niggas too, Only few politicians doing all this rubbish to us and we can't even do anything, All our politicians from the senates to the reps, Cancellors, Governors, President, Even Soldiers, Police, Airforce, When summed up, they're not up to 5 million in population


Now imagine, The total population of Nigeria is close to 170million, So 170million people are being made to suffer by this minority which are less than 5million in population!!

Nigeria Men are the real Pussy ass nigger,

In the same logic as to your post. there's a difference between few men and only one man doing all the rubbish. one man is easier to tackle than few men

Fahdiga:
In the same logic as to your post. there's a difference between few men and only one man doing all the rubbish. one man is easier to tackle than few men

It's safe to say Raydos is very correct. Kim Jong Un has loyalist in the military just like Buhari has Buratai and the rest of them in the military. If they both didn't have loyalist in the country maybe a coup would have overthrown them. North Korea though stands a better chance at an uprising to depose Kim than Nigeria because they are one people (they speak one language and are followers of the same religion). Nigeria can't be by it's over 200 million population unless they are united.

This short man that rolls like a ball in the guise of walking. I wonder why the Koreans haven't done something about this their leader or why the world is letting him. I think the problem is with the citizens. We think they have a problem and need help but they think they are fine.

what if I told you that people who has been killed and/or disappeared by the law (those in power) is higher than those killed by ordinary criminals!

privaldo:


It's safe to say Raydos is very correct. Kim Jong Un has loyalist in the military just like Buhari has Buratai and the rest of them in the military. If they both didn't have loyalist in the country maybe a coup would have overthrown them. North Korea though stands a better chance at an uprising to depose Kim than Nigeria because they are one people (they speak one language and are followers of the same religion). Nigeria can't be by it's over 200 million population unless they are united.

OK sir