Kim Jong Un has received severe criticism from North Koreans following the implementation of a new law that restricts them from using foreign currency in the nation.
The new law concerning foreign currency ban restricts people from using foreign currency such as the U.S. Dollar, Euro or Chinese Yuan for the daily transaction. The action has been taken by North Korea to promote its domestic Won.
However, North Korean Won is a weak currency and remains completely untrusted. Each Won Trades at about 0.001 to one US dollar at the time of writing. Due to the incredibly weak nature of the domestic currency, the use of foreign currency in North Korea is more common and this is what led the authorities to implement the strict law.
The report is based on information retrieved from Radio Free Asia (RFA) network, which claims that the North Korean authorities led by Kim Jong Un are trying to acquire the much-needed Yuan and U.S. dollar. However, it is expected that North Korean citizens will not accept the new law as there are no shops that currently accept trades in domestic won and therefore, the dispute between the government and the citizens is inevitable.
While the official exchange rate for won is less, the North Korean authorities say that its unofficial exchange rate in the black market is more than 10 times the current value.
Many sources claim that the implementation of the foreign currency ban in North Korea has shaken people’s trust in the supreme leader.
The North Korean industry has been hit hard by the law already.
“From May 4, the authorities have ordered us not to trade in foreign currency for any payments for factories and businesses,” said one of the sources. “However, asking the state-run factories to trade only in North Korean money is simply not realistic because they always buy raw materials using foreign currency in the markets.”
The source further said that asking them not to use a foreign currency is like telling them to not operate their factories at all.
Kim Jong Un-led North Korean government has so far been successful in retrieving the trust of the people as well as the officials. There are reports of resistance and uncooperative behavior, failing the attempts of the government to retrieve foreign currency from North Korean citizens.
The U.S. dollar and Yuan are still being circulated in the market, indicating that the new law is not effective and it has only helped reduce the status of the North Korean authorities.
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