TIL that tourists to North Korea are not allowed to use the local currency (the North Korean won), and instead must use a special debit card tied to foreign currencies.
The official exchange rate (which when I went was around 100 won to the dollar) is also bullshit. When I bought an ice cream in a park (with USD) I got tens of thousands of won in change, the only time I handled local currency. My guide told me the vendor had made a mistake and I was “very lucky” and should keep the money.
This is probably because North Korea is desperate to get foreign currency, because their currency is useless to buy stuff outside North Korea that they need. I've heard that's a big part of why they hack entities in other countries, to get foreign money. They used to sell meth to other countries in the 1990s for this same reason.
My family and I visited China back in the mid-80s. At that time China had two currencies - the renminbi (which is what they still use) and another parallel currency that foreigners could only use. Technically, the renminbi and the parallel currency had an exchange rate of 1:1.
In reality, the exchange rate of renminbi to dollar was a lot different. My parents were able to find a black market cash exchanger and the rate was a lot different than the official rate (like 5:1 vs 2:1). They ended up buying a nice silk rug they still have.
We also travelled around the country (ancestral home and some smaller cities) a bit and my mom would give a dollar bill to some children and their parents were extremely thankful. I think it was Technically illegal for Chinese citizens to possess American currency at the time.
They don't hack into other countries. They have corporate operations embedded in foreign countries to invest in real estate an other financial instruments. Essentially money laundering and using capitalism to keep the fairy tale of communism alive.
There are some good German documentaries by DW (in English) that document this whole process of how NK stays funded.
And to reiterate, they don't do it by hacking. Their only connection to the rest of the world's internet is through China. China isn't dumb enough to let NK do this when there are easier ways to make money.
About 20 years ago a stamp collector went there to get stamps. Also, athletes go for tournaments.
