A series of recent reports on banking changes in North Korea have complicated the picture of the country’s financial sector, pointing to policies that combine reforms with new efforts to assert control. 

The Seoul-based outlet Daily NK reported in mid-May that the state is inflicting a new forced savings scheme on some North Koreans in what looks like a clampdown on financial activities.

But this comes alongside the introduction of non-cash checks that give regional banks new money-creating powers.

On the face of it, these changes appear contradictory, combining reformist and regressive