After Kim Jong-nam’s assassination, a not so ostentatious restaurant in Kuala Lumpur has come under intense media spotlight for a simple reason: it is the one and only North Korean restaurant in Malaysia.

Located at No 1 and 3 on Jalan Kamuning, Koryo Restaurant lies in the Imbi area, a busy commercial district in downtown Kuala Lumpur, within a one kilometre walking distance from Bukit Bintang.

This North Korean restaurant has reportedly been a channel to earn foreign currency, to send the money back to Pyongyang.

According to China’s state-owned media outlet Xin Hua News Agency, North Korea opened its first restaurant, Pyongyang Restaurant, in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Then-transport minister Ong Tee Keat and the former North Korean ambassador were among those who attended the opening ceremony.

A few years later, the restaurant closed and in its place came Koryo Restaurant.

Koryo Restaurant operates from 11.30am to 3.30pm, and from 5.30pm to 11pm, daily.