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Pyongyang fired a senior communist party official who headed the country's recent currency reform. That’s after the measure caused severe inflation and social unrest in some areas, reports said yesterday.
In late November, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea redenominated its national currency, the won, for the first time since 1959. It was done as part of its efforts to resolve worsening inflation and reassert control over the country's economy. The measure, however, reportedly sparked despair and frustration among many residents left with piles of worthless money.
It also "paralyzed" street markets that have sprung up in recent years and led prices to skyrocket, Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing a source in Beijing it did not identify.
The DPRK's power elite was embroiled in arguments over who should be responsible for the aftermath. So Workers' Party finance and planning department chief Pak Nam-gi, who spearheaded the currency revamp, was subsequently fired, the paper said.
Seoul's YTN television carried a similar report, saying the country's economic difficulties and food shortages have worsened following the reform, with people in some northeastern cities having died of starvation.
The network quoted sources it described as knowledgeable about the situation in the DPRK.
The situation is more serious in Tanchon, a home to mineral mines where the authorities have recently suspended food rations, according to Good Friends, a Buddhist-affiliated group that sends aid to the DPRK. One agency official said that one or two people have died of hunger daily there since January.
Questions:
1. What was the result of the latest monetary reforms in the DPRK?
2. Even though the government approved the monetary reform, the latest measure was to punish someone for the approved program. Who got punished?
3. Why is the situation so bad in Tanchon?
Answers:
1. The measure caused severe inflation and social unrest in some areas, and there are also reports of people starving to death.
2. The DPRK's power elite fired Workers' Party finance and planning department chief Pak Nam-gi, because he spearheaded the currency revamp, according to some media reports.
3. The situation is more serious in Tanchon, a home to mineral mines where the authorities have recently suspended food rations.
（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.
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