The official North Korean won is increasingly giving way to the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan in asset holdings of North Koreans, as well as in North Korean markets, South Korean experts said Tuesday.
Circulation of foreign currencies is on the increase and a vast number of North Koreans are holding their assets, including banknotes, in foreign bills, University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Moon-soo and Kim Seok-jin, an analyst at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, said in a joint paper released at a conference in central Seoul.
Giving the reported simultaneous use of the major world currencies their own term of "dollarization," Yang said, "It is almost becoming abnormal in the North to hold more than a certain amount of bank notes in North Korean won."
High-value assets such as houses are being increasingly valued and traded in dollar terms while in the North Korean market, dealers are increasingly relying on dollar-based prices, the professor said.
Devaluation of their own currency due to steep inflation, coupled with fears of a potential government decision to confiscate won notes mainly fueled the "dollarization," he said.
Freer use of foreign currencies in the reclusive country may contribute to the development of its market and economy by driving a wider circulation of finances, he said. (Yonhap)
North Korea conducts 6th nuclear test; most powerful ever 
North Korea claims successful test of H-bomb warhead for ICBM 
Fearful, yet people dismiss chance of war 
Trump weighing withdrawal from free trade with S. Korea: report 
Authorities look into McDonald's bulgogi burger 
China urges North Korea to stop 'wrong' action 
N. Korea claims successful H-bomb test for ICBM 
Malaria infections spread in inter-Korean border areas 
Food shortage forces reduction in Pyongyang population 
US considers deploying strategic weapons to S. Korea 
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
