Wednesday, December 9, 2009

North Korea Today No. 312 Hot Topics December 2009

[“Good Friends” aims to help the North Korean people from a humanistic point of view and publishes “North Korea Today” describing the way the North Korean people live as accurately as possible. We at Good Friends also hope to be a bridge between the North Korean people and the world.]
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[Hot Topics No. 312]
Public Lecture, “Due to currency exchange measures, residents will report to work voluntarily without any coercion”
Nationwide Market Management Offices order the Merchants “Take away your goods.”

[Politics]
Presidents of 3 Major News Media Companies Fired or Transferred
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[Hot Topics No. 312]
Public Lecture, “Due to currency exchange measures, residents will report to work voluntarily without any coercion”
The staff of Central and Local Party are making public speeches saying that “From the first day of the New Year all residents will report to work voluntarily without any coercion.” It means that because the currency had been adjusted, if the wages are paid as programmed, everybody will report to work. In addition, they added that, “The trading is momentarily stopped because the new currency is not circulating yet. Therefore the people should not bear grudges. There was no need for us to order suspension of the market operation. People automatically stopped trading.”

Nationwide Market Management Offices order the Merchants “Take away your goods.”
Trading is not stabilized yet because the new prices have not been determined. Under the situation the Market Management Office that had warehoused the trading goods informs the merchants to take away their goods as it became burdensome to store the goods when the trading is not active. It is based on the evaluation that there is going to be hardly any trading in December. The Market Management office emphasizes that they cannot be held responsible for any loss and re-emphasizes that each merchant should bear the responsibility. Similar situation is happening in every market management offices in cities and provinces all over the country.

[Politics]
Presidents of 3 Major News Media Companies Fired or Transferred
During the months of September and October, the presidents of the so-called three major news media companies, “Rodong Newspaper,’ ‘Chosun Central Broadcasting Committee,’ ‘Chosun Central Telecommunication Company,’ had been either fired, removed or changed their title. Choi Chil Nam, managing editor of the Rodong Newspaper,
had been relieved from his position to take the responsibility for the erroneous publication of No. 1 photo, and Kim Ki Ryong, president of the Chosun Central Telecommunication Company was appointed to fill the position. A Vice President was appointed for the position of the president of Chosun Central Telecommunication Company. Cha Seung Soo, Chairman of the Chosun Central Broadcasting Committee, was fired because advertisement of Daedong River Beer, Kaesong Koryo Ginsang, Quail Dish at Okryu-Kwan, etc., which was broadcast in TV and it became controversial. One official said, “The General expressed that in the socialist society, unlike the capitalist society, there is no competition among different merchandise and therefore advertisement is not necessary. It’s my understanding that Chairman Cha was fired to take the responsibility of the broadcasting accident.” Chairman Cha Seung Soo had been demoted as the Vice Chairman of the Chosun Writers Central Committee. As for the position of the Chairman, the Chosun Writers Central Committee, the First Department director was appointed.

Prices in Sinuiju Market (2022)

Feb. 1, 2022 Feb. 14, 2022 Feb. 21, 2022 Mar. 3, 2022 Mar. 15, 2022 Apr. 14, 2022 May 06, 2022 100 USD  495,000 560,000 665,000 720,000 675,...