Debt - external:
$12 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$NA; note - nearly $300 million in food aid alone from US, South
Korea, Japan, and EU in 2001 plus much additional aid from the UN
and non-governmental organizations

Currency:
North Korean won (KPW)

Currency code:
KPW

Exchange rates:
official: North Korean won per US dollar - 150 (December 2002),
2.15 (December 2001), 2.15 (May 1994), 2.13 (May 1992), 2.14
(September 1991), 2.1 (January 1990); market: North Korean won per
US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002), 200 (December 2001)

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Communications Korea, North

Telephones - main lines in use:
1.1 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
NA

Telephone system:
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections
through Moscow and Beijing