Seoul, Nov 25: North Korea is reportedly banning the use of US dollars in what experts here speculated today was retaliation against Washington's suspension of fuel oil supplies to Pyongyang.
The Stalinist country has decided to abandon the US currency and adopt Euros instead as means of international payment, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Quoting a letter sent from the state-run Korean Trade Bank, Xinhua said foreigners as well as North Koreans are advised to convert US dollar accounts into Euros or other currencies this month.
The dollar ban has been imposed on North Koreans since November 18, and foreign residents are required to convert their dollars by December 1, it said.
Beginning next month, the greenback will no longer be used at hotels and in foreign-related shops and in payment for services in North Korea, a Korean Trade Bank official told Xinhua.
South Korea's unification ministry officials said today they had yet to verify the news report and North Korea's media was silent on the report.
Dong Yong-Sueng, chief researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, said Pyongyang's reported move reflected anger over a US-led decision to suspend fuel oil shipments to North Korea over its suspected nuclear programme.
"I see more of a political motive than an economic one behind the North's decision because US dollars are preferred to Euros in international trade," Dong told the English-language Korea Herald.
Bureau Report
