Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: What is the currency in North Korea?
The won (/wʌn/;[3] Korean: 원, Korean pronunciation:[wʌn]; symbol: ₩; code: KPW) or Korean People's won is the official currency of North Korea. It is subdivided into 100 chon. The won is issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, based in the capital city, Pyongyang.
In the 1990s the North Korean economy saw stagnation turning into crisis. Economic assistance received from the USSR and China was an important factor of its economic growth. In 1991 USSR collapsed, withdrew its support and demanded payment in hard currency for imports. China stepped in to provide some assistance and supplied food and oil, most of it reportedly at concessionary prices. But in 1994 China reduced its exports to North Korea. The rigidity in the political and economic systems of North Korea left the country ill-prepared for a changing world. The North Korean economy was undermined and its industrial output began to decline in 1990.
During his tenure as Ambassador to the United Nations, Wallace most notably sought to uncover corruption in UN programs in such places as North Korea and Burma. He exposed the "Cash for Kim" corruption scandal in North Korea, revealing, among other issues, that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had funneled millions of dollars in hard currency to North Korea without assurance that North Korea's dictatorship would use the money to help the North Korean people instead of diverting it to illicit activities including the country's illegal nuclear program. Wallace accused the program of being "systematically perverted for the benefit of the Kim Jong Il regime" and the media drew parallels between UNDP's corruption in North Korea and the Oil-for-Food scandal in Iraq several years earlier. "The Wall Street Journal" wrote that the finding of the Cash for Kim investigation "vindicates" Wallace, "who led the charge for transparency at UNDP."
Postal service between North and South Korea does not exist. North Korea is under multiple economic sanctions which severely limit what can legally be sent to the country. In the United States any mail is regulated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and limits mail to first-class letters/postcards and matter for the blind. All merchandise, currency, precious metals, jewelry, chemical/biological/radioactive materials and others are prohibited.
The first stamps of North Korea were issued on 12 March 1946: "Rose of Sharon" and "Samson Rock". Stamps prior to 1974 dealt primarily with subjects relating specifically to North Korea, its foundation, Kim Il-sung and other patriotic themes. After 1974, in a bid to bring more hard currency into the country, North Korea began issuing stamps with wide-ranging themes (such as Joan of Arc, airships, sports and wildlife) and using English descriptions.
Ghana has mostly run a deficit in its trade with North Korea, meaning that Ghana is a source of foreign currencies to North Korea. In 2015, North Korea was Ghana's 77th biggest trade partner with $6.8 million in trade. Ghana imports mostly cement from North Korea. It exports mainly cocoa, gemstones, and pearls, but also precious metals.
The test came on the heels of the Six-party talks between North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Asian stocks and currencies slid along with European and United States stocks, while gold, silver, and oil rose amid news of the North Korean missiles.
The North Korean government operated the Pyongyang restaurant in Jakarta, serving North Korean cuisine, promoting North Korea as well as being the source of foreign currency for North Korean government. The Pyongyang restaurant had chefs, cooks, and waitresses straight from North Korea. The restaurant was closed after the death of Kim Jong Un’s stepbrother.
Estimating gross national product in North Korea is a difficult task because of a dearth of economic data[19] and the problem of choosing an appropriate rate of exchange for the North Korean won, the nonconvertible North Korean currency. The South Korean government's estimate placed North Korea's GNP in 1991 at US$22.9 billion, or US$1,038 per capita. In contrast, South Korea posted US$237.9 billion of GNP and a per capita income of US$5,569 in 1991. North Korea's GNP in 1991 showed a 5.2% decline from 1989, and preliminary indications were that the decline would continue. South Korea's GNP, by contrast, expanded by 9.3% and 8.4%, respectively, in 1990 and 1991.[16]
After the division of Korea, North Korea continued using the Korean yen for 2 years until the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established on December 6, 1947 and a new currency was issued. It was at the time pegged at par to the Soviet ruble. It was revalued at a rate of one hundred to one in February 1959 and new won were issued.
In late 2009, North Korea revalued its currency, effectively confiscating all privately held money above the equivalent of US$35 per person.[60] The revaluation effectively wiped out the savings of many North Koreans. Days after the revaluation the won dropped 96% against the United States dollar.[61] Pak Nam-gi, the director of the Planning and Finance Department of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, was blamed for the disaster and later executed in 2010.[62]
Counterfeiting currency is alleged to have begun in the 1970s under Kim Jong-il's direction; however, the notes produced at the time were not of high quality. Since then, and within the jurisdiction of Room 39, the North Korean government has counterfeited $50 and $100 United States banknotes using increasingly sophisticated techniques. In 1994, authorities in Hong Kong and Macao apprehended five North Korean diplomats and trade-mission members carrying around $430,000 in bills that turned out to be "superdollar" (also called "supernote") counterfeits. There have been two primary reasons for counterfeiting: the first is to wage economic warfare against the United States, and secondly, to help ease North Korea's domestic economic problems. According to a report by Dr. Balbina Hwang of American University, North Korea circulated $100 million in counterfeit currency in 2001. The revenues from this are estimated at between $15 million and $25 million annually. In 2013, the United States released its newly redesigned 100 dollar bill. The primary purpose of the redesign was to fight against counterfeiting and prevent the recurrence of the "supernotes" which were produced by North Korea.
In 1902, won was introduced as the official currency unit replacing yang at 1 won = 5 yang. The bank of Korea was established 1909 but soon after in 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korean Empire. Under Colonial rule, the country was made to use the currency unit "yen" in the name of Korean yen, which took over the Korean won at par. After the division of Korea, the state of South Korea was established and recognized in 1948, and won was again made the official currency of the new state. "jeon" was made the subunit of the currency that divided it into 100 equal parts. Bank of Joseon issued the currency for independent South Korea for the first time that too in banknotes only. 
In 1979, North Korea renegotiated much of its international debt, but in 1980 it defaulted on its loans except those from Japan. By the end of 1986, hard-currency debt had reached more than US$1 billion. It also owed nearly $2 billion to communist creditors, principally the Soviet Union. The Japanese declared North Korea in default. By 2000, taking into account penalties and accrued interest, North Korea's debt was estimated at $10–12 billion.[34] By 2012, North Korea's external debt had grown to an estimated US$20 billion despite Russia reportedly writing off about $8 billion of debt in exchange for participation in natural resources development. Besides Russia, major creditors included Hungary, the Czech Republic and Iran.[7]
North Korea has the structural profile of a relatively industrialized country where nearly half of the Gross Domestic Product is generated by industry and human development is at medium levels. Purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP is estimated at $40 billion, with a very low per capita value of $1,800. In 2012, Gross national income per capita was $1,523, compared to $28,430 in South Korea. The North Korean won is the national currency, issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The won is the currency of both North and South Korea. "Won" is a cognate of the Chinese currency unit, the yuan (//), and the Japanese currency unit, the yen (; ¥), meaning "round object". The won is subdivided into 100 jeon ().
South Korea plans national digital currency using a Blockchain. The chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), Yim Jong-yong, announced that his department will "Lay the systemic groundwork for the spread of digital currency." South Korea has already announced plans to discontinue coins by the year 2020.
Korea Exchange Bank one of few specialized banks in South Korea that buys and sell foreign currency coinage.
Foreign currency coinage exchangeable at KEB are:
Coincidental with the changing patterns in its relations with China and Russia, North Korea has moved to improve its strained relations with Japan. Pyongyang's primary motives appear to be a quest for relief from diplomatic and economic isolation, which has caused serious shortages of food, energy, and hard currency. Normalization of relations with Japan also raises the possibility of North Korea's gaining monetary compensation for the period of Japan's colonial rule (1910–45), a precedent set when Japan normalized relations with South Korea.
The yen was the currency of Korea during the Colonial rule, from 1910 to 1945, and was issued by the Bank of Joseon It was equivalent to the Japanese yen and consisted of Japanese currency and banknotes issued specifically for Korea. It was replaced by the South Korean won at par in 1945, and by the North Korean won in 1947.
Those who have hard currency can easily buy imported cigarettes from hard currency shops, although these will also stock the best domestic brands (such as Pak Ma, comparable in quality to makhorka) to convince tourists of the quality of North Korean tobacco. Cigarettes are popular gifts, and tourists are recommended to give Western brands of cigarettes to tour guides. Within the country, cigarettes are used as form of currency in bribery.
Those who roll their own tobacco prefer to use sheets of "Rodong Sinmun"—the organ of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea—as rolling paper. One piece of the paper can be used to roll some 40-50 cigarettes. According to one defector, when a North Korean "starts to smoke the "Rodong Sinmun" tobacco, he cannot smoke other kinds of tobacco. I used to smoke the "Rodong Sinmun" tobacco, and after defection, couldn't smoke with Chinese paper tobacco due to the poor taste." Because the "Rodong Sinmun" is in limited circulation, most North Koreans roll their cigarettes with some other paper.
According to North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov, the country's illicit activities never developed into lucrative hard currency earners. Instead, these activities exposed the country to international condemnation in exchange for marginal gain. Lankov suggests that smuggling was never intended to earn currency for the regime, but was simply a means of survival for diplomats whose funding was cut.
The Korean yen was the currency of Korea between 1910 and 1945. It was equivalent to the Japanese yen and consisted of Japanese currency and banknotes issued specifically for Korea. The yen was subdivided into 100 sen. It replaced the Korean won at par and was replaced by the South Korean won and the North Korean won at par.
The International Convention for the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency is the primary treaty whereby states agree to criminalize acts of currency counterfeiting. North Korea is not a party to the treaty.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has stated that reforms to re-balance the Chinese economy away from its current dependency on exports are well underway and that the yuan is being allowed to gradually appreciate. He warned that if China is forced to revalue its currency too fast that it would lead to social unrest in China, bankruptcy for export dependent companies and "disaster for the world".
In October, China posted a record surge in its foreign exchange reserves, which was seen as a "target around the neck of China’s exchange rate regime" in the effort to get the country to allow its currency to appreciate.
In reaction, Geithner suggested China’s attempts at limiting gains were the reason for capital controls and currency-market interventions in other emerging economies. "What’s happening is, as China holds its currency down, their currencies are moving up and they’re having to work very hard to make sure they’re not at an unfair disadvantage with China." "Bloomberg" pointed out at that countries such as Brazil, South Korea and Thailand sold their respective currencies in the weeks preceding the report to curb gains and support export. South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Colombia and Russia were also tightening rules to limit capital flows and avoid swings in their currencies.