Mick Hartley: People Loudly Cursing the Government

More on the Great North Korean Currency Swindle.

The authorities, entirely unfamiliar with any expression of public opinion, seem to have been startled by the outrage evoked by the currency reform. From the Daily NK:

As the North Korean authorities started having the people exchange their old currency for new denominations, people have been venting their discontent in various ways and several rumors have circulated. There is no sign of a let up in the chaos; even the official policy seems to be in flux, changing as public sentiment demands, so the whole country seems to be hovering on a knife edge.

In the three days since the start of the exchange, the authorities have changed the policy a number of times. First they planned to allow each household to exchange 100,000 won; 1,000 won in new denominations. Then they changed it to 150,000 won. Then they changed it again to 100,000 won, plus 50,000 won more per family member in a family of four. That is, a standard household can now exchange a maximum of 300,000 won.

Additionally, the authorities announced an extra new decree whereby one could put the rest of one’s money, which cannot be exchanged into new bills, in the bank.

This near continuous flow of policy amendments has exacerbated public confusion....

According to another source in North Pyongan Province, one Ms. Jang, a woman in her 40s living in Yeokjeon-dong, Shinuiju who lives by trading cosmetic products, got such a shock from the news of the redenomination that she became delirious and started yelling criticisms of the authorities, so officials from the National Security Agency had to arrest.

Quite clearly delirious - how else to explain why the wretched woman would start criticising the authorities.

From South Korea's Chosun Ilbo:

The North Korean Army is on standby and ready to quell any protests against last week's drastic currency reform, Russian business daily Kommersant last Friday quoted diplomatic sources in North Korea as saying. The sources said authorities had ordered the Army to stand by as outrage grew in cities across the North, with critics describing the reform as daylight robbery.

North Koreans are panicking as all shops were ordered closed during the currency reform period and they can no longer use any money they have saved up. Foreign diplomats are meeting with North Korean authorities in efforts to persuade them to reverse the reform, the sources added....

According to sources in the North, the National Defense Committee has ordered guards on the border with China to shoot at will at anyone who crosses without permission. This is seen as an attempt to thwart defections by people disgruntled by the currency reform.

The sources said there could be a mass defection of middle-class North Koreans who have suddenly been deprived of their money. One South Korean intelligence officer said, "We don't have any information that there'll be a riot or a mass defection, but since North Koreans have never so far taken collective action, they are more likely to choose defection if the situation gets worse."

The Ministry of Public Security has been on emergency alert after old 5,000-won bills carrying the image of Kim Il-sung were found torn or damaged on piles of garbage in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, and Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province. Graffiti and leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il have also started to appear, the sources added.

And AFP quote Chosun Ilbo in their report:

North Koreans are publicly voicing their anger despite the increased presence of security agents on the streets.

"There are accounts of people loudly cursing the government in the markets in major cities," it [the Chosun Ilbo] said.

Prices of goods have soared but it is still unclear whether authorities will cut prices to match the new currency, the daily said.

The regime has already taken steps to curb free street markets. These sprang up after the national food distribution system collapsed during famines in the 1990s, but are now seen as threatening the state's grip.

"Residents are lamenting bitterly that this was the disaster they were talking about when people mentioned that this is the year of disaster," Kim Keun-Soo, a fruit trader in the northern border city of Sinuiju, told Good Friends.

And from AP:

Angry citizens burned piles of old bills at two separate locations in the eastern coastal city of Hamhung on Monday, the Daily NK, a Seoul-based online news outlet that focuses on North Korean affairs, reported late Thursday, citing an unidentified North Korean resident.

It quoted the resident as saying he saw graffiti and leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in and around a college in Hamhung — a rare move in a country where the totalitarian government keeps tight control over its 24 million people.

The beginning of the end for the Dear Leader? In a country with absolutely no organised opposition that may be a little too optimistic, but even in a slave state there must be a limit as to how far you can push people.