Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun says the North Korean won has depreciated substantially since January after the North’s currency reform late last year.

Quoting sources in Beijing, the Japanese daily said that the value of North Korea’s new won to China’s “yuan” has plunged to a tenth of its pre-reform value.

North Korea’s trade bank has not announced the North Korean currency’s exchange rate against the Chinese yuan since January first when it posted the exchange rate at 14.19 won to the yuan.

The troubled North Korean won is predicted to seriously hurt North Korean trade with China and other countries.

It has also led to severe inflation in the North, resulting in public outrage and a scrambling for foreign currencies.