N.Korea eases curbs on markets amid anger: Seoul

N.Korea eases curbs on markets amid anger: Seoul

By Manager Online

4 February 2010 16:45

Kumya, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA : This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on February 4, 2010 shows North Korean laeder Kim Jong Il inspecting the Wonphyong Taehung Fishery Station in Kumya County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS

February 4, 2010
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea is easing its curbs on markets because of mounting public anger about a chaotic currency change that worsened food shortages and sparked unrest, South Korea's spy agency said Thursday.

"North Korean authorities have been easing restrictions on markets. Such signs have been detected in various places," a spokesman for the National Intelligence Service told AFP.

"They may not have been able to keep ignoring people's demands."

The communist regime had launched a progressive crackdown on street markets in recent years in an apparent attempt to regain control over the economy.

On November 30 it announced a shock currency revaluation, which wiped out the savings of many private traders, sent inflation soaring and worsened food shortages. There have been reports of attacks on security agents.

Media reports Wednesday said a top communist party finance official, Pak Nam-Ki, has been sacked to take the blame for the chaos. The NIS has confirmed that Pak disappeared from public view.

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