History
See also: History of the Korean currencies For the Korean won before the North–South division, see Korean won.The won became the currency of North Korea on December 6, 1947, replacing the Korean yen that was still in circulation.
North Korean won are intended exclusively for North Korean citizens, and the Bank of Trade (무역은행) issued a separate currency (or foreign exchange certificates) for visitors, like many other socialist states. However, North Korea made two varieties of foreign exchange certificates, one for visitors from "socialist countries" which were colored red, and the other for visitors from "capitalist countries" which were colored blue/green. FECs were used until 1999, then officially abolished in 2002, in favor of visitors paying directly with hard currency, especially the euro.
Read more about this topic: North Korean Won
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)