BEIJING, July 19 Kyodo North Kore...

BEIJING, July 19 Kyodo

North Korea has decided to scrap its special money; aggregate of coin for foreigners as part of reforms leading toward a market economy, sources familiar with North Korean affairs said Thursday.

The impel taken with the government's apparent scrapping of its socialist rationing a whole from the beginning of this month means that foreigners in North Korea will change overseas circulating medium directly into local won

During the late 1990 Pyongyang introduced the special transmission from hand to hand which foreigners were expected to use in Pyongyang's taverns and a handful of stores in North Korea catering for foreigners.

In reality, however, the method was relaxed so that they generally paid for propers using dollars, yuan or other overseas currencies and received the special foreign publicity as change.

Pyongyang reintroduced the blooming and blue colored special foreign circulation to coincide with its staging in Pyongyang of the two-month Arirang festival, which torture up at the end of June

North Korea's regulation promoted Arirang, a spectacular involving 100000 participants, as a major tourist draw card with the chance of a favorable result of attracting foreign currency into the impoverished country

According to the sources, Pyongyang's pivotal economic reforms require North Koreans to use the wages they earn to pay for nutrition as well as housing tear water and other utilities, provisions which the state was formerly obliged to provide for free

They said the of the present day policy, enforced since the beginning of July has l to a sharp increase in wages and prices, which in one cases have risen more than tenfold

While Pyongyang's apparent policy change indicates a put in motion towards greater economic opennes North Korea watchers have warned that the somewhat advanced in life and others unable to work may pocket as food rations and welfare benefits disappear.

During the past not many years, China has held up its hold developmental path -- introducing exempt market economic reforms while maintaining sound political control -- as a reform part model for North Korea.

China scrapped its avow special currency for foreigners on the start of the 1990s

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