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This came as a surprise to ordinary North Korean people. The shock was nothing to do with concerns over the potential for a confiscatory currency redenomination measure like the one that the country suffered in November 2009. The only organization fanning the flames of that idea was the South Korean intelligence service, which proclaimed that it was designed to bring out all the hard currency squirreled away in society. Inside North Korea, where it actually matters, a handful of buyers and sellers did clash in urban markets over whether or not the soon-to-be old money could be accepted (it could), but incidents of this nature were few and far between. Most people were perfectly aware that this was a simple currency replacement, and not the shock of a currency redenomination. If this is the case, why was there any domestic surprise? It came from something else: namely, that people were told that Kim’s face would be on the new bills. In a process that began days before the replacement began, bank workers and other money handlers were given classes on upcoming changes to monetary policy; these were followed by gatherings of the people’s unit chairwomen, North Korea’s vast network of civilian snoopers. The two groups were informed in plain Korean that new money was impending, and that it would feature images of both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. “Regional bank officials (told) heads of people’s units … that the 5,000 won (bill) would be switched,” one Daily NK source recalled. “They told the people’s unit heads to manage the new money very carefully as likenesses of the Great Suryeong and Great Leader are to appear on it.” Fortunately, the cognitive dissonance of the absence of smiling Kim family members from the new money soon became the reason the surprise was short-lived, and came to be replaced by a universal presumption about plans for the future. “I asked (name of source withheld) why he thought the authorities had replaced the old 5,000 won with a new one that doesn’t have Kim Il-sung on it,” one Daily NK North Korean reporter said. “He said it immediately: It’s because there is going to be a 10,000 won.” A variation on this theme was repeated across North Korea, from Sinuiju in the west, to the capital, Pyongyang, and across to Hyesan, Musan, Hoeryong and Rason in the distant northeast. By replacing the existing 5,000 won bill featuring Kim Il-sung with one that does not, locals presumed that the North Korean financial authorities opened up the political option of putting a 10,000 (or higher!) won bill into circulation. This could then feature Kim, or even “Kim and Kim” (Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il). Since inflation is eroding the value of North Korean currency, and the uptake of Chinese currency persists despite improving domestic economic conditions, this is an important step. Indeed, by the time you read this, the step may already have been taken, and the 10,000 won bill may be in circulation. But even if it is, the sad truth is that the introduction of a new bill will not solve North Korea’s economic problems. As a wise man once said: Any time it takes 10,000 units of your national currency to buy dinner, you know there’s a problem. By the time you read this, the 10,000 won bill may be in circulation. But even if it is, the sad truth is that the introduction of a new bill will not solve North Korea’s economic problems.