North Korea still has currency? I thought they just used whatever euros they could fleece out of the tourists.

I thought they just traded boiled cabbage for putrid rice. Who knew they had actual currency?

Why do they need an exchange rate? I thought NK was supposed to be a self-sustaining workers paradise.

I'd say it would take a +2 longsword to take down a wight.

Who cares?

/Merry after Thanksgiving.

How much are Zimbabwe dollars going for?

You don't fight inflation by printing more money in a newer denomination. That's usually how you end up with hyperinflation. I wish them the best of luck with that move. From what I can see, it's caused a flight to foreign currencies, which is going to make the problem worse.

/how much you want to bet this becomes a new meme for N. Korea over the next year.

Every Bison dollar will be worth five British Pounds, for that is the exchange rate they will set when I kidnap their queen!

This enbiggens my hopes for a The Running Man system of "new dollars" and "old dollars".

Who cares?

Renowned transvestite sexologist: You don't fight inflation by printing more money in a newer denomination.

They are just doing what many Americans did in the past, basically using a new credit card that has a balance on it while hoping the old card can cover itself once the economy recovers. Of course. they also should not take on the economic superpowers by trying to bow-up and produce nuclear weapons - you will always lose against the larger checkbook...

I thought their economy was based on

Only with our dear leader's face.

do not wont new currency

\here all week
\\try the salmon

gopher321: I'd say it would take a +2 longsword to take down a wight.

Nah, Wights don't have any damage resistance... well, unless you're a rogue or rely on critical hits with physical weapons. A mundane greatsword is a better bet.

Gosling: North Korea still has currency? I thought they just used whatever euros they could fleece out of the tourists.

North Korea has tourists?

A won an a two...

At this rate it will take two thousand pounds of Wons just to buy a cup of soup.

Guess what kind of soup.

FishStampede: Every Bison dollar will be worth five British Pounds, for that is the exchange rate they will set when I kidnap their queen!

Thank you. Just... thank you.

(On the contrary, I mourn. I was hoping to face Guile on the battlefield... in respectful combat. Ah! The road not taken. But why? Why do they still call me a warlord? And MAD? All I want to do is to create a perfect genetic soldier! Not for power! Not for evil! But for good! Carlos Blanka shall be the first of many, they shall march out of my laboratory and sweep away every creed, every nation, every adversary until the very planet is in the loving grip of the Pax Bisonica! And then peace shall reign in the world, and all of humanity shall bow to me in humble gratitude!)

/GAME OVER!

mamoru: Gosling: North Korea still has currency? I thought they just used whatever euros they could fleece out of the tourists.

North Korea has tourists?

Yeah. I almost went there with a Norwegian friend of mine last year. As it turned out, the tour was something like 1400 Euro a week without including airfare.

I ended up in Thailand instead. I somehow doubt the North Koreans have anything on women shooting ping pong balls out of their vaginas into a nervously tepid, glassy-eyed crowd.

So how many Dongs is that?

Gosling: North Korea still has currency? I thought they just used whatever euros they could fleece out of the tourists.

Tourists are not allowed to bring in foreign money IIRC.
There's plenty of illegal trading, by all accounts, but tourists aren't a part of it.

I think this is an imminent crisis, and here's what's going on.

First, note there's no reason to revalue because you wanna get rid of a single zero. AFAIK countries typically revalue when there's so many zeros it's embarrassing, like 1000x. Mexico revalued by 1000x when pesos were essentially worthless.

So why did NK do this? To destroy the illegal exchange market overnight, the only ones stabilizing the economy actually. They're ripping them off.

All those traders gave euros or dollars to NK people in exchange for their NK won. So when someone in China wants to buy something from NK or bribe a NK official, they can do it in NK won. Well, I don't know- there's obviously SOME value for NK won outside the nation.

Assuming they're doing a limited-window won swap, all those traders and foreigners holding NK won are now left holding the bag. They can't physically get millions or billions into the country in time to swap them. They're getting ripped off.

The traders won't be able to do business if NK is going to just invalidate the currency after the trade. If they did it once, they'll do it again. Well, they will, but they'll greatly increase the exchange rate based on the risk that the currency will be invalidated before the buyer gets to use it. Probably will further devalue the NK New Won over time on the belief that it won't be demonetized right after issue but after 3-5 years or so the exchange rate may make it near-worthless due to the increasingly likely risk of demonetization.

Without a reliable monetary system, the only way black market trades can go on is with, like, gold.

Without traders, the NK is completely cut off from the outside. Well, it's hardly the first time NK's leaders did something bad for the country, but this is really bad.

haddie: I ended up in Thailand instead. I somehow doubt the North Koreans have anything on women shooting ping pong balls out of their vaginas into a nervously tepid, glassy-eyed crowd.

Wait, what? I want to visit anyway, but that just makes it sound more interesting.

Renowned transvestite sexologist: You don't fight inflation by printing more money in a newer denomination. That's usually how you end up with hyperinflation. I wish them the best of luck with that move. From what I can see, it's caused a flight to foreign currencies, which is going to make the problem worse.

/how much you want to bet this becomes a new meme for N. Korea over the next year.

It's not printing more, it's a swap.
They're (allegedly) printing money with fewer zeros only to replace the old money. Which gained too many zeros because they ALREADY printed too much of it, with no accompanying economic growth to increase the "wealth".

Actually, by demonetizing the old won, they're DECREASING the money supply. They're just screwing anyone holding old won outside the country who can't get it exchanged.

Given what NK is, I'm not even sure how money and inflation works. If prices are set by the government, and the government dictates who sells to whom- "all wheat growers will sell to the military supply at 1 won/bushel", it's hard to see how money gets valued except on the black market.

Actually, I can see it's not just the foreign currency traders they're ferreting out. Locals who have gotten rich through bribery or black market are probably gonna be hard-up to swap millions in currency. NK is an absurdly suspicious government. What's gonna happen is the guy bringing in more won than he could legally have is gonna be shot on general principle. How many friends can you send to exchange it in small amounts? Since it sounds like a "lawful" person only has a handful of won to his name at any given time without any real accumulation of savings, then you might need a thousand people to trade in even a million.

So basically all the people who have "gotten rich" in any sense may immediately be ripped off. No way to trade in currency without getting shot. But if you don't trade it in, it's soon to be worthless. The government essentially takes back its value out of your hidden pile of money when it invalidates what you have and simply prints more to restore the money supply to where it was, making up for this "lost" money.

Yeah, Thailand pretty much has a monopoly on the entertainment niche of women shooting things out of their vaginas. They also have a pretty strong hold on the girl-boy industry.

davidphogan: haddie: I ended up in Thailand instead. I somehow doubt the North Koreans have anything on women shooting ping pong balls out of their vaginas into a nervously tepid, glassy-eyed crowd.

Wait, what? I want to visit anyway, but that just makes it sound more interesting.

Bangkok: City of Dreams.

haddie: davidphogan: haddie: I ended up in Thailand instead. I somehow doubt the North Koreans have anything on women shooting ping pong balls out of their vaginas into a nervously tepid, glassy-eyed crowd.

Wait, what? I want to visit anyway, but that just makes it sound more interesting.

Bangkok: City of Dreams.

You also know what they say about being there for one night, right?

/obscure?

Bagelox-99: NOT IMPWESSED

Ah yes. The Isle o' Wight...

* "Lake" where there is no water.
* The "Needles" you cannot thread.
* "Ryde" where you walk.
* "Cowes" you cannot milk.
* "Freshwater" you cannot drink.
* "Newport" you cannot bottle.
* "Winkle street" where there are no Winkles
* "Newtown" which is very old

I once spent 70 euros on a glass of cognac in pyongyang. because i could.

/ really.

Once again, China gets stuck holding the short end of the stick. I'm sure that "absolutely zero" corruption based purchases come from the Chinese to North Korea. But piss off China enough, and your economy is in the shiatter.

NK Daily (new window)

Looks like there is an established limit of 100, 000 won. It seems like this is an effort to screw the traders out of their savings.

It's possible the regime is preparing for a succession, with Jong-Il's son Jung-Un the next heir apparent.

<b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4810486&IDComment=56317564#c563 17564">Snarcoleptic_Hoosier</a>:</b> <i>Once again, China gets stuck holding the short end of the stick. I'm sure that "absolutely zero" corruption based purchases come from the Chinese to North Korea. But piss off China enough, and your economy is in the shiatter.</i>

So, in your opposite world, are you supposed to say "hello" or "bad bye" when leaving?

Day_Old_Dutchie: Bagelox-99: NOT IMPWESSED

Ah yes. The Isle o' Wight...


Oh, now we've passed the Lizard Light and the Start me boys will heave in sight, soon be abreast of the Isle of Wight, come and get yer oats me son.

/Hup jamboree

If they run out of wights, they may need to barrow some.

Gosling: North Korea still has currency? I thought they just used whatever euros they could fleece out of the tourists.

What tourists? It's next to impossible to go there. You must be thinking of Zimbabwe

syrynxx: If they run out of wights, they may need to barrow some.

Nah, you can always make a wight out of thwee wefts.

/Wascally wights

thebigbigeye - for some reason that song was stuck in my head for days. i managed to wiggle it loose - sorry lose, pet peeve - just a couple days ago. thanks a bunch...

yay for 80s talk/rap

HA HA HA get bent NK!!! That is what you get for flooding the market with knock offs. Sorry to the nice people that live in NK, but your leader is a complete sociopath with a tiny dong. Who lets him go outside with his gut hanging out of his uniform and his hair all disheveled??? He looks like a Statistics Grad Student most of the time lol.

hipster_slayer: HA HA HA get bent NK!!! That is what you get for flooding the market with knock offs.

What knockoffs are you talking about? Nukes?

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Mytch: Yeah, Thailand pretty much has a monopoly on the entertainment niche of women shooting things out of their vaginas. They also have a pretty strong hold on the girl-boy industry.

I don't know about the girl-boy industry (although it wouldn't suprise me) but if you think Thailand has a monopoly on that niche, you have obviously never been to Gate 2 street in Kadena, Okinawa. Ask to see the banana show.

Came in for the 'that's waisist' gif.

Leaving disappointed.

I don't really know much about North Korean currency, but this line did catch my eye:

Yonhap said the North may also have wanted to draw out funds from the underground economy, including money from citizens working abroad.


I've known a few North Koreans in my life, and they all seemed to be of the "thank god I got out of that hell hole" variety, and I specifically remember one NK chick that I knew saying that she couldn't contact her relatives that hadn't made it out, so how could she send back money? I didn't push that point though so maybe there was more to that story. Maybe they were in prison, maybe her family just didn't know were their relatives lived anymore, its not like these people have aim.


Jim_Callahan: gopher321: I'd say it would take a +2 longsword to take down a wight.

Nah, Wights don't have any damage resistance... well, unless you're a rogue or rely on critical hits with physical weapons. A mundane greatsword is a better bet.


Jims' right, you're thinking of Wraiths, which are incorporeal and as such are only affected by magical weapons. Wights are undead, but corporeal so mundane weapons will work.

haddie: hipster_slayer: HA HA HA get bent NK!!! That is what you get for flooding the market with knock offs.

What knockoffs are you talking about? Nukes?

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Maybe you should read a site or two besides Fark then. People sell knock offs in places besides the US.

hipster_slayer: haddie: hipster_slayer: HA HA HA get bent NK!!! That is what you get for flooding the market with knock offs.

What knockoffs are you talking about? Nukes?

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Maybe you should read a site or two besides Fark then. People sell knock offs in places besides the US.

I am a Canadian living in China working as a manager in a factory that makes knock off costumes. What's your point, exactly?

flyingmonkeysreign: Jims' right, you're thinking of Wraiths, which are incorporeal and as such are only affected by magical weapons. Wights are undead, but corporeal so mundane weapons will work.

Methinks gopher321 was going off 1st Edition rules, where you need a +1 or better weapon to do anything to them.

Wow 100 to one? What was that African country that was doing this to such an extreme that their money is basically worthless? IT was probably mentioned but I refuse to read things.

Wouldn't it suck if one day someone was like "Hey that dollar is worth a penny now?" I'd think so. Prolly not as dramatic as it sounds though.