TOKYO -- Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country's currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings.
The revaluation and exchange limits triggered panic and anger, particularly among market traders with substantial hoards of old North Korean won -- much of which has apparently become worthless, according to news agency reports from South Korea and China and from groups with contacts in North Korea.
The sudden currency move appeared to be part of a continuing effort by the government to crack down on private markets, which have become an essential part of the food-supply system in chronically hungry North Korea.
In recent years, some market traders have stashed away substantial amounts of cash, while establishing themselves in profitable businesses that the government struggles to control.
But under the rules of the new currency system, the wealth of these traders has largely disappeared, unless it is held in euros, dollars or Chinese yuan.
The revaluation replaces 1,000-won notes with 10-won notes but strictly limits the amount of old currency that can be exchanged, news reports said ...
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120101841_pf.html
RELATED:
http://www.market-ticker.org/archives/1685-North-Korea-and-Currency-Devaluations.html
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Yes, this is North Korea, and Kim Jung-Il isn't exactly a nice guy.
Now let's ask the question nobody wants to ask:
Is America proceeding inexorably down a path where "the wise guys" - that would be Bernanke, Obama, Geithner - have such a plan "in their back pocket" if the dollar should happen to decline precipitously? If the market refuses to buy bonds and they can't finance spending $1.5 trillion more than they take in via taxes?
Remember, Henry Paulson had drawn up the "TARP/EESA" plan in his back pocket six months before he locked Congress in a room one dark September night in 2008 and used it to extort $700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out the banksters on Wall Street, coordinating that with $11 trillion more of Fed and Treasury "commitments." He lied about it being a "necessary immediate response" to an "unforeseen" circumstance - the truth is that he drew up his evil plan and then waited for an appropriate time when he could ramrod it through Congress under threat of martial law.
I'm sure you think it won't happen again, right? We got "change" in November of 2008, yes?
ARE YOU SURE, CONSIDERING THAT YOU ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THE $12 TRILLION THAT THEY MANAGED TO STEAL THE FIRST TIME?
If such a plan was in place the winning strategy would be to take every possible dollar in credit you could - all of it - and intentionally default. If they do something like this you win huge.
If you don't do it - even if you're nominally rich right now - you're broke.
Given how obstructionist, intentionally deceitful and opaque The Federal Reserve and Treasury have been up until now, how certain are you they wouldn't try something like this?
Something to think about, and for those who say that no government would do something like that, remember this: In North Korea, they just did.
PS: No, gold won't save you if that sort of thing happens.
