The apparent assassination of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur, which triggered a fierce diplomatic clash between the two countries, has thrown a spotlight on the growing commercial ties between Pyongyang and Southeast Asia.

From the expansion across the region of the “Pyongyang” restaurant chain — where North Korean hostesses sing karaoke hits extolling the Kim family as diners tuck into cold noodles and kimchi — to the North Korea-built Angkor Panorama museum near Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, the isolated regime has reached across the region in an attempt to generate hard currency and win friends. 

Pyongyang has also turned to Southeast Asia in search of ways to evade international sanctions; Singapore-based shipping companies have been accused of facilitating arms shipments to North Korea.