Chinese yuan trades higher than ever since closure of China-North Korea border

1 month ago DailyNK

The Chinese yuan is trading higher than it has since North Korea closed its border with China in January of 2020, Daily NK has learned. According to Daily NK’s regular survey of market prices in North Korea, the yuan was trading at KPW 1,120 in Pyongyang and Hyesan as of Monday. This is the first time the yuan rate has climbed so steeply since the North Korean authorities closed the border. It appears the dollar rate has recovered to where it was just prior to the closure of the border. The dollar has steadily strengthened since July, likely a result of growing state-led trade between North Korea and China.
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N. Korea’s Forestry Act makes it harder for people to obtain firewood for heating

At the onset of winter, North Koreans are struggling to buy heating fuel or find firewood because of the country’s economic difficulties. “The Forestry Act is making it much harder for people to find firewood. This year, people are collecting dried grass and tree branches to stand in for firewood,” a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Monday. North Koreans typically heat their houses with coal briquettes and firewood. Following last year’s revision of the Forestry Act, law enforcement has been cracking down on illegal logging, with the result that North Koreans can’t even chop firewood as an alternate source of fuel from the hills.

1 month ago DailyNK

N. Korea’s skyrocketing coronavirus-like cases lead to intensifying restrictions in border region

North Korean authorities are intensifying restrictions in regions of the country bordering China following the skyrocketing of people suffering from coronavirus-like symptoms, Daily NK has learned. North Korean authorities do not conduct diagnostic tests even if patients present COVID-19 symptoms, making it difficult for fever patients to accurately determine if they have the coronavirus or not. However, with COVID-like cases spiking primarily in regions that border China or that have a trade relationship with China, many North Koreans believe the cases are COVID-19 cases. Some North Koreans speculate that the failure to mention quarantine efforts means that the North Korean authorities are aware that what appear to be coronvirus cases are now skyrocketing. “Everyone knows that COVID-19 entered the country as smuggling increased,” the source said, adding, “From the time COVID-19 cases started climbing in China, cases in places like Sinuiju and Sakju climbed exponentially as well.”Translated by David Black.

15 days ago DailyNK

N. Koreans turn their backs on the country’s cash vouchers

A year has passed since North Korean authorities issued cash vouchers, or donpyo, to bolster the state’s ailing finances. North Korean authorities have been encouraging the circulation of donpyo as a means for individuals to pay for goods at foreign currency shops, department stores and elsewhere. However, enterprises and government agencies continue to use KPW 50,000 donpyo — issued by the authorities specifically for corporate and government use — as a replacement for cash. In fact, North Korean authorities earlier this year ordered provincial enterprises ranked class 4 and below to actively use the newly issued donpyo. N. KOREA DEVELOPS NEW HAENGPYO “BOOKLETS”North Korean authorities are reportedly planning a new means of B2B payments that supplements the negative aspects of existing haengpyo.

2 months ago DailyNK

Hackers use S. Korean internet security agency as a disguise to mount cyberattacks

Hackers likely based in North Korea recently sent out an email about the Kakao data center fire in October. The hackers used an email address meant to deceive receivers into thinking it was from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The email in question said: “There has been a string of cyberattacks exploiting the recent disruption of Kakao services. An expert analysis of the email concluded that it had been sent by hackers likely based in North Korea. The peculiar thing, however, is that the phishing email did not contain any malware, either in links or attachments.

2 months ago DailyNK

Chongjin cuts opening hours of markets to push people into national manure production campaign

North Korean authorities have cut market operation hours as part of a strategy to push people into manure production, which is the first national campaign of the new year. “Since the new year, the market hours in Chongjin have been changed for the sake of manure production,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Jan. 9. For people who are already struggling to earn a living, the reduced market hours only further threaten their livelihoods. For market sellers, one of the most frustrating aspects of the change in market hours is the timing. Yet the North Korean authorities are cutting market hours and pushing starving people into manure production as if they’re cattle.

17 days ago DailyNK

Recent Chinese imports lead to dramatic price falls of certain food items

The recent expansion of food imports from China recently has led to dramatic price falls of certain food items in North Korea’s markets, a Daily NK source in the country reported on Wednesday. The Chinese-made food items that have fallen most dramatically in price are soybean paste and red pepper paste. Imports of Chinese-made soybean paste and red pepper paste were so small at one time that the price of soybean paste spiked to KPW 15,000 a kilogram and that of red pepper paste to KPW 20,000 a kilogram. Prices of these food items appear to have fallen because Chinese food imported in mid-October has been hitting local markets. In Sinuiju, a kilogram of corn cost KPW 2,800, the same price recorded in Daily NK’s previous survey.

2 months ago DailyNK

N. Korea creates new “Space Strategy Department” within Strategic Force Command

North Korea’s Supreme Command recently ordered a reorganization of the Strategic Force Command that included the creation of a new “Space Strategy Department.”A Daily NK source in the North Korean military said Monday that the Supreme Command issued the order in mid-October. What makes the creation of the new department extraordinary is that its establishment comes while military surveillance satellites are still under development. Indeed, most new departments in the Supreme Command have been created after their respective forces have already been deployed into the field. Interestingly, the Supreme Command is bestowing great importance on the creation of the new Space Command Department. The source said the Supreme Command believes the creation of the Space Command Department within the Strategic Force Command will bolster specialized efforts to carry out the Supreme Command’s intent to conquer and militarize space.

2 months ago DailyNK

N. Korea withdraws Storm Corps battalion guarding the border

North Korean authorities recently withdrew a Storm Corps (11th Corps) battalion guarding the border in Chagang Province, Daily NK has learned. First, the GSD expressed the feeling that it no longer needed to keep the Storm Corps unit along the border. For these reasons, the GSD said there was no longer any need to keep the Storm Corps unit along the border. LOCAL RESIDENTS WELCOME WITHDRAWALMany Chagang Province residents are welcoming the unexpected departure of the Storm Corps unit. “Not just border residents but also border patrol troops were frustrated with the presence of the Storm Corps unit, but now they can breathe easier,” he said.

2 months ago DailyNK

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