North Korea begins confiscating dollars and yuan after declaring foreign currency illegal in local transactions

New Delhi: North Korea has begun confiscating yuan and dollars from citizens by stopping them on the street for random searches, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.

The move of Korean authorities came almost a month after the country banned foreign currency.

According to reports, residents have been ordered to exchange their foreign currency for the domestic won, but they prefer Chinese and U.S. currency because it is considered to be more stable.

In recent years, the North Korean government has intensified efforts to collect foreign currency held by its citizens.

“Some are wondering if the opening of customs trade between North Korea and China is imminent with the recent ban on the use of foreign currency,” a resident of the north-western province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

“This is because in the past, ahead of periods of increased trade between North Korea and China, the authorities had to manoeuvre foreign currency out by issuing a ban.”

The exercise to collect foreign currency from the residents aims to secure enough of it for when trade with China completely resumes, likely later this year, a North Korean escapee who once worked as the head of a military unit that dealt with foreign currency, told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The North Korean government would be unable to confiscate all the foreign currency from the people because they would never cooperate,tThe former unit leader, who settled in South Korea in 2016 quoted by RFA as saying.

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