[Noah Adams:] Stephen Mihm writes about the counterfeiting in this coming Sunday's New York Times magazine. He spoke earlier with Alex Chadwick, from the studios of Georgia Public Radio in Atlanta.
[Alex Chadwick:] Stephen Mihm, you write that some of these bills are actually better than what we get out of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, how could that be?
[Stephen Mihm:] So, for example, on the back of the $100.00 counterfeit note, the clock tower of Independence Hall is rendered more finely on the counterfeit than it is on the genuine note.
[Alex Chadwick:] Your story says that these have been in circulation for about 15 years and they are only detectable with very fine equipment, and it took quite a long time to figure out that they indeed come from North Korea. How did they manage to figure that out?
[Stephen Mihm:] The South Korean sources were able to piece that together in conjunction with their counterparts in this country as well.
[Alex Chadwick:] I mean this is it sounds like a weird, kind of off the wall sort of enterprise, but this really matters, this counterfeiting.
[Stephen Mihm:] It's an odd strategy perhaps, but one that they've honed and perfected over the years.
[Alex Chadwick:] Can you see any effect of this counterfeit money on our economy, on the U.S. economy?
[Stephen Mihm:] So it's played a much more important role on a diplomatic level than on an economic level.
[Alex Chadwick:] Stephen Mihm's story on North Korea and the counterfeiting of American currency is in the Sunday New York Times magazine. Stephen Mihm, thank you.
[Stephen Mihm:] Thank you.
[Noah Adams:] More coming up on DAY TO DAY from NPR News.