N. Korea issues new 5,000-won note: sources

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has issued new 5,000-won banknotes that include a portrait of its late leader Kim Jong-il, an informed source said Wednesday.

The move is not associated with any currency reform, the source said, but is expected to have some impact on the impoverished nation's black market.

"North Korea plans to produce new 5,000-won bills and distribute them today or tomorrow," the source based in China said, adding the information came from a trader doing business with North Korea. The 5,000-won note is the highest value bill in the North, where per capita income is said to be about US$1,000.

Old notes carried the image of the North's late founder Kim Il-sung alone but fresh ones will also have a portrait of his son Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, said the source.

"North Korea's printing of the new bill is not part of currency reform measures," the source said, adding it seems to be just in line with a campaign to lionize the father of the current leader Kim Jong-un.

The North plans to allow the use of both old and new notes for the time being, said the source.

In 2009, Pyongyang carried out a drastic devaluation of its currency in an apparent bid to curb inflation and undermine an ever-expanding local black market.

Although not associated with a formal currency reform, the production of the new 5,000-won note will likely affect the secretive nation's underground economy once again as black market money traders will be tempted to use up their old notes as early as possible, observers said.

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