Should North Korean really have executed someone over a currency reform?”
A former top finance official in North Korea was executed over a currency reform that caused a number of problems in the secretive Communist nation, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency. Pak Nam-gi was executed last week at a shooting range in Pyongyang, Yonhap reported Thursday, citing multiple sources. He was held responsible for “the country’s currency reform fiasco that has caused massive inflation, worsened food shortages and dented leader Kim Jong Il’s efforts to transfer power to a son,” the news agency said. Pak was chief of the planning and finance department of the ruling Workers’ Party, Yonhap said. He was fired in January. In December, North Korea revalued its currency, called the won, at a rate of 100 to 1, according to the U.S. State Department – the equivalent of lopping off two zeros, according to Time magazine. In addition, according to the State Department, new laws were implemented including regulating consumption, tightening state control on the ma
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea executed a former senior official last week as punishment for the country’s botched currency reform, a news report said Thursday. In November, North Korea redenominated its currency as part of efforts to lower inflation and reassert control over the country’s nascent market economy. However, the measure reportedly worsened the country’s food situation by forcing the closure of markets and sparked anger among many North Koreans left with piles of worthless bills. Pak Nam Gi, the ruling Workers’ Party finance and planning department chief who spearheaded the currency reform, was executed by a firing squad in Pyongyang last week, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified sources. Pak was accused of ruining the nation’s economy in a blunder that also damaged public opinion and had a negative impact on leader Kim Jong Il’s plan to hand power over to his youngest son, Yonhap said. Citing its sources, Yonhap said many North Koreans believe
