DANDONG, China/SEOUL -- A slew of North Korean businesses in China have closed amid ever-stricter international sanctions on the isolated state, a sign that efforts to curb Pyongyang's income from citizens employed abroad are working as intended.
A once-thriving North Korean restaurant occupying a five-story building in the Chinese city of Dandong stood deserted at the end of November, tables and chairs strewn haphazardly around the dining room. A sign on the door announced the eatery was closed for maintenance. But a little repair work is unlikely to get the restaurant up and running again.