As with anything with North Korea it is hard to say with certainty if this is true or not, but allegedly the North Korean government is backing down from their currency reform policy that confiscated the wealth of many North Koreans:

Increasing social unrest has led North Korea to ease restrictions on private markets, say reports.

The move follows a recent currency revaluation which wiped out many cash savings in the country.

The revaluation appears to have been an attempt by North Korea’s leaders to reassert control over the economy.

But correspondents in South Korea say allowing markets to operate more freely may be the only way for many in the North to feed themselves.

A spokesman for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said signs of an easing of restrictions had been detected “in various places”.

The authorities “may not have been able to keep ignoring people’s demands,” the spokesman told the AFP news agency.

The BBC’s John Sudworth in Seoul says the traders and smugglers who manage to cross North Korea’s tightly-sealed border with China have reported runaway inflation, food shortages and civil unrest in recent weeks.

Organisations with contacts in the North saying some people had attacked security agents patrolling markets.

The unrest followed a 30 November decree that old North Korean banknotes would be swapped for new ones at a rate of 100 to one.

The amount of currency people were allowed to exchange was reportedly restricted, and any cash held above that became worthless – effectively wiping out some people’s savings.  [BBC]

Read the rest at the link but supposedly Pak Nam-Ki, the Communist Party’s director for planning and finance has been sacked over the failed policy reform.  Who knows if this is true or not especially considering all the talk about North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan being purged for his failed efforts and suddenly he appears welcoming Bill Clinton when he arrived in Pyongyang to pick up the two detained reporters last year.

I think we need to let this story develop a little more before we declare the market reforms over, but at least an easing of the restriction seems to have happened.

You can read more on this of course over at One Free Korea, NK Econ Watch, and Kushibo.