Official: DPRK considers alternatives to USD in trade settlement

CHANGCHUN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is considering using more currencies as alternatives to the U.S. dollar in trade settlements, a senior DPRK trade official said.

Koo Bon-Tai, vice trade minister, made the remarks at the Northeast Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation Summit held in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, on Tuesday.

Koo said the DPRK government is considering the use of euro, Renminbi (RMB) and rouble, in addition to the U.S. dollar, in trade contracts and trade settlements.

The euro zone countries, China and Russia are seeking to expand the influence of their currencies and this gives the DPRK an opportunity to use them as alternatives to the U.S. dollar in trade settlements, Koo said.

The DPRK could only earn limited U.S. dollars in foreign currency reserves because of U.S. economic sanctions, and this affects its foreign trade, said Zhang Yushan, head of the Northeast Asia Research Center of the Jilin Academy of Social Sciences.

The DPRK sought to exert pressure on the United States as the dollar is dominant in the international financial system, said Shen Jiru, a research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.