North Korean official disappears after disastrous currency policy

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Updated February 3, 2010 20:44:17

A top North Korean finance official has been sacked following the country's disastorous currency revaluation. Under a November 30 decree, old banknotes were swapped for new at a rate of 100 to one. But the amount which could be exchanged was restricted, effectively wiping out many people's savings and causing widespread anger. Now South Korea's Spy agency, the national intelligence service, says Pak Nam-Ki, the communist party's director for planning and finance, has been absent from public activities since early January, and may face trial amid a wave of recriminations over the policy.


Presenter: Bill Bainbridge
Speakers: Dr Bronwen Dalton, Korea specialist at the University of Technology Sydney

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