A North Korean restaurant at Siem Reap in Cambodia in December 2018. Cambodia's government said it has shut down all businesses run by North Koreans in the country. Korea Times file

By Jung Min-ho

The Cambodian government has shut down all businesses operated by North Koreans in the country to comply with United Nations sanctions.

The Khmer Times, a newspaper based in Phnom Penh, reported Wednesday that authorities closed four restaurants in the capital and two in Siem Reap.

The government also closed Angkor Panorama Museum near the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap. The museum, built and paid for by North Korea as a sign of friendship between the two states, was run by North Koreans since opening in 2015.

On Dec. 22, 2017, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued sanctions that require member states to repatriate North Korean nationals earning income abroad within 24 months over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

To comply with the sanctions, Cambodia's Tourism Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak said all North Korean restaurants were closed by Dec. 22, 2019.

"The ministry had earlier informed the owners of the restaurants about the matter and they agreed to shut their businesses down," he was quoted as saying.

Kim Sereyroth, head of the food and hospitality services department at the Tourism Ministry, said the government has to submit a report about its implementation of the sanctions to the UNSC by Jan. 9.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Cambodia is one of 193 members of the United Nations and the closures of North Korean businesses and museum will not harm relations between the two.

"We are just following the UN resolutions, so I think we don't have to be concerned over this (the closures)," he was quoted as saying.