Laura Ling is a reporter. She recently gained attention for her look at the narcotics war raging in Mexico for Current TV. Find more Laura Ling news and information here.
North Koreans set piles of old bills alight in anger over their government's surprise move to redenominate the national currency, a report said, a sign of growing frustration among citizens left with hoards of worthless bills. On Monday, the communist government informed citizens and foreign embassies that it would redenominate the national currency, the won. But it limited the maximum amount of old bills that could be converted into new ones, telling residents to deposit the rest in... Read Full Story
US envoy Stephen Bosworth will visit Pyongyang next week at the start of an Asia-Russia tour aimed at bringing North Korea back to nuclear disarmament negotiations, officials said Thursday. Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said Bosworth will arrive in the North Korean capital on Tuesday before traveling to Seoul on December 10, Beijing on December 11, Tokyo on December 12 and Moscow on December 13. He is set to return to Washington on December 15, he added. "He plans to arrive (in... Read Full Story
North Korea revalued its national currency for the first time in decades in a bid to fight inflation and flush out the black market money trade, reports said Tuesday — a move that sent residents of the communist state scrambling to convert hoarded money into foreign currencies. North Korea revalued its currency at an exchange rate between old and new notes of 100 to 1, China's Xinhua news agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang. It cited a verbal notice Tuesday from North Korea's Foreign... Read Full Story
China voiced hope Tuesday that a rare direct meeting between North Korean and American officials next week would result in Pyongyang returning to talks on dismantling its nuclear program. President Barack Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, is to travel to Pyongyang next Tuesday to discuss restarting the six-nation talks, in the first one-on-one talks between Pyongyang and Washington since Obama took office in January. "We hope the dialogue between the DPRK and the United States can be... Read Full Story
North Korea has sharply revalued its currency, Chinese state media and South Korean reports said Tuesday, in a surprise move apparently aimed at curbing inflation and clamping down on black-market trade. The hardline communist government implemented the change on Monday, causing panic and confusion in the markets, Yonhap news agency and other South Korean media reported. The exchange rate between the old and new bills is 100 to one, China's Xinhua news agency reported from Pyongyang, quoting... Read Full Story
North Korea has sharply revalued its currency by issuing the first new banknotes for 17 years in an apparent attempt to curb inflation and clamp down on black-market trading, reports said Tuesday. The hardline communist government implemented the change Monday morning, causing panic and confusion in the markets, Yonhap news agency and other South Korean media reported. Yonhap, reporting from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, said the exchange rate for the new currency is 100 to 1... Read Full Story
TIMES ONLINE UK - Richard Lloyd Parry Shops and markets in North Korea have been closed and all cash transactions frozen after the Government’s shock announcement of a devaluation of its currency in an effort to crack down on the country’s burgeoning free-market economy. In the capital, Pyongyang, yesterday only the few shops and restaurants permitted to trade in foreign currencies — patronised by the privileged elite and the city’s small foreign population — were open for business. All... Read Full Story
A number of North Koreans have been arrested and could face execution for leaking information on the movements of leader Kim Jong-Il to South Korean news media, reports and sources said Monday. Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, quoting sources in the communist state, said "many North Korean residents" in the northeastern city of Hoeryong have been charged with espionage. It said they were accused of leaking information on Kim's February 24 "field guidance" trip to the city to a South Korean Internet... Read Full Story
South Korea sees prospects for a US-North Korean meeting next month as "dark" because Pyongyang has yet to promise to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, a news report said Sunday. Stephen Bosworth, US special representative for North Korean policy, is scheduled to visit the communist state on December 8 with an aim to persuading it to return to six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations. "There is no confirmed signal that North Korea will return to six-party talks," an... Read Full Story
A rare direct meeting between North Korean and American officials next week is unlikely to produce a major breakthrough in the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program, media reports cited a senior Seoul official as suggesting Sunday. President Barack Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, is to travel to Pyongyang on Dec. 8 to discuss restarting the six-nation talks aimed at disarming the North. It would be the first one-on-one talks between Pyongyang and Washington since Obama took... Read Full Story
