SIGNING OF SINO-KOREAN EXCHANGE RATE; KOREAN COMMODITY SALES AND PRICES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700200038-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 31, 2011
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: August 25, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700200038-6
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1953-1954
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers DATE DIST. a5- Aug 1954
CLASSIFICATIONC-_O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RE
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO ROADCASTS CD
Korea, China
SUBJECT Economic - Fiscal, exchange rate; consumer
HOW goods, prices
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED 20 Oct 1953-21 May 1954
LANGUAGE Chinese
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SIGNING OF SING-KOREAN EXCHANGE RATE;
KOREAN COMMODITY SALES ANCpRI ES
CHINESE AND NORTH KOREANS SIGN EXCHANGE RATE AGREEMENT -- Peiping, Kung-Jen
Jih-pao, 21 May 54
On 20 May 1954, the governments of the People's Republic of China and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea concluded in Peiping an official Sino-
Korean exchange rate agreement as a significant step toward economic coopera-
tion between the two countries. The representatives of the People's Bank of
China and the North Korean Central Bank signed the "currency exchange rate
agreement" and the "agreement on noncommercial drafts." [The agreed exchange
rate is not given.)
Ts'eng Chu-ju, vice-president of the People's Bank of China, signed the
documents in behalf of the Central People's Government, while Yi Chang-ch'un,
Vice-Minister of Finance, and Kim Chae-p'il, member of the board of directors
of the North Korean Central Bank, represented the Korean government in signing
tle documents.
Chinese representatives who witnessed the ceremony included Chang Han-fu,
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs; Wu Po, Vice-Minister of Finance; Hu Jen-k'uei,
assistant director of the Customs Office, Ministry of Foreign Trade; Shang Ming,
chief of the Administration Office, People's Bank of China' Ho Ying, deputy
chief, Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Wang Shih, assist-
ant director, Protocol Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Chan Wu, director,
Foreign Business Bureau, People's Bank of China; and Chen Ts-pang, technical
specialist.
The North Korean observers included Cho I1, the North Korean Ambassador
to the People's Republic of China, and Kim Kuk-po, embassy counselor.
CLASSIFICATION C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
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C-O-N-F-2-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
ADOPTS POLICY TO IMPROVE LIVING CONDITIONS -- Hong Kong Ta Kun
,
P
g
ao
Peiping, , .3 Apr 54
from P pn 11 April (Rsin-hua She) BY g, the Korean Labor Party andcthelNorth K
adopted a polic
f pril
t
y
orean government
have
o improve the material well-being of the people by "reducing
Prices, increasing wages, expanding trade, and increasi
of workers."
ng th
COMMODITY PRICES DECLINE -- Peiping, Kung-,den Jih-pao, 20 Oct 53
The prices of commodities, particularly of food, have declined steadily
andNthehpriKore after ceareductionPpolicyn of war,
abor Party.
L theaNortheKoreanfgovernment'andutherKorean
Statistics show the
from i Sep-
rice, 13 percent; small beans, r20 percent;
34 percent; and soybeans, 10 percent. The average
21 percent. decline duingthe month was
With the Pyongyang retail food price index of 1 May 1952 taken as 100,
the price index on 1 August 1953 was 17;
13. on 1 September, 16; and on 1 October,
NEW STORES TO RANDLE INCREASED CONSUMER DEMAND -_ Peiping,
20 Oct 53
Kung Ten Jih-pao,
To meet the steadily increasing consumer demand, commercial establishments
under the North Korean Ministry of Commerce planned to expand retail stores by
24 percent during the second half of 1953 over the first half. Some of these
additional stores are already in business in P'yongyang and Nampo. City stores
have "mobile" retail service units in addition to regular store facilities.
The postwar sales of the stores managed by the Pyongyang Commercial Con-
trol Office were 40 percent above prewar volume.
Hong Kong, Ta Kung Pao, 13 Apr 54
The Choson Chungang T'ongsin-sa reports that the sales volume of commodities
of state-operated stores during March 1954 was 27 percent above that of Feb-
ruary, and that the volume of retail sales during the third 10-day period of
March was 60 percent above the second 10-day period of that month.
PYONGYANG DEPARTMENT STORE EXPANDS FACILITIES -- Peiping, Kung-,den Jih-pao,
8 May 5.4
The state-operated Central Department Store in P'yongyang, destroyed dur-
ing the war, is being rebuilt on Stalin Boulevard in Pyongyang. The new
building will have a total floor space of 2,000 square meters. Even while the
construction work is in progress, the store is selling cl
and household
oth
goods wade after the Korean
es, shoes, stationery,
war and also goods imported from the
USSR, China, and -they People's Democracies.
2 -
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2-07N7g_I-D-E-N-T-1-A-L
A cording to the store's advertisements, there are indications that the
prices of clothes and woven goods recently drep-)ed 35 percent; shoes and
stationery, 30_40 percent; food
cent. , 30 percent; and cultural materials, 50 per-
Kim Tal-sok, manager of the Central Department Store, states that an aver-
age of 7,000 customers per day buy over 10,000 manufactured items and thousands
and of
produce The sales volume at this store has increased 180 percent
seasonal the number of customers has doubled since the sixth price reduction [date
not given .I The most popular merchandise includes manufactured goods
from the USSR and China, leather shoes from Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and
the silk cloth friendly from nations. imported
Poland. The store now sells about 300 items imported from
Recently the store organized, by order of the North Korean Cabinet, five
mobile" stores and t bacco, and beveragesPintthesstrto sell eets and working aces. The The, foodstuff,
usually include fresh Pollack, mackerel, carp, other places.
s
of fish, and freshd
vegetables. "Staple commodities such as Paektusan mushrooms, Nangnimsan fern,
Kaesong ginseng, Kanggye aconite, Nampo apples, and Hwangju apples are very
popular among the customers.
C-0-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700200038-6