Seoul (AsiaNews) - The Federal Reserve's redesign for the new US$ 100 bill is likely to cause yet another economic and diplomatic dispute between Washington and Pyongyang.
In presenting its new note, which "incorporates security features that make it easier to authenticate, but harder to replicate," the Fed hopes to reduce trafficking of fake US currency abroad.
Although not direct reference is made to the new note, a report from the Congressional Research Service indicates that Pyongyang is the largest manufacturer of fake money in the world with at least US$ 45 million in counterfeited US$ 100 supernotes of North Korean origin detected in circulation.
For Kim Jong-un's regime, this is an important source of foreign currency, enabling it to prop its shaky economy.
Even before the devastating famine a few years ago, counterfeiting a variety of goods was central for generating revenue, said Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korean expert and assistant professor at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
"North Korea is unique in that it is the only country in the world to manufacture [counterfeit] cigarettes, drugs like Viagra, hard currency; this is an essential instrument of regime preservation," Prof Lee added.
According to South Korea's conservative newspaper The Chosun Ilbo, one North Korean embassy in Eastern Europe generated US$ 150 million by exchanging counterfeit notes in the past five years.
However, "With fake 0 bills you have to be careful," Lee said, "especially when government officials are using them abroad, since they're being watched all the time."
For its part, North Korea's official press agency KCNA reacted indignantly to US accusations, saying that Washington's devastating imperialism and globalisation would not affect the country, calling on the US to show evidence before making allegations, evidence that, it said, the Americans do not have.