North Korea Executes A Scape Goat

In November of 2009 North Korea decided to revalue its currency and what most experts believed was an effort to reign in free enterprise and the black market. What ensued was almost a complete lost of wealth not only by those involved in private markets but anyone who had any kind of savings. Why? Because the government regulated the amount that could be exchanged making the rest worthless. Given that North Korea's economy has basically collapsed there were demonstrations against the new policy. Something which has never been seen before.

As North Korea is an authoritarian dictatorship someone had to take the blame for a failed policy constructed by Kim-Jong Il. One must remember that Kim is quite paranoid about what information the citizens of North Korea have access to. Many believe the currency revaluation was done to destroy the North's small but fledgling free market experiment because it allowed open trade with China and people could view for themselves the positive changes the program brought those willing to participate.

Pak Nam-ki is your Scape Goat

North Korea has executed a ruling party official blamed for the botched currency reform last November which led to runaway inflation and threatened new food shortages, in what is an attempt to contain civil unrest.

Pak Nam-ki, the 77-year-old head of planning and finance, was executed by firing squad in Pyongyang last week according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Mr Pak, who had been purged in January, was executed for "deliberately ruining the national economy" as a "son of a big landowner," Yonhap reported.