Jan. 10 (UPI) -- North Korean restaurants continue to do brisk business in China, despite United Nations Security Council sanctions that ban the operation of North Korean-owned businesses and the deployment of overseas North Korean laborers.
Several of the biggest North Korean restaurants in Beijing are open and continue to accept reservations, South Korean television network SBS reported Wednesday.
The network's Beijing correspondent who investigated one restaurant, Dong Haehae Danghwa, attempted to be guided to a table by a North Korean waitress, who initially greeted him like any other guest.
But in hidden camera footage, the woman quickly turns him away when she realizes he is a South Korean national.
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The waitress, whose face is blurred out in the video report, says the establishment "does not serve South Koreans, but otherwise remains operational."
At a second restaurant, Pyongyang Unban, group reservations are available and an undercover reporter is seen being led to private rooms that can seat as many as 16 people.
Although U.N. sanctions ban countries from issuing new work visas to North Koreans, the waitresses working in China may be in the country on previously issued visas that have not reached expiration.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday restaurants in the Chinese capital, like the Yuliuguan Korean restaurant, might have been operated as a joint venture between a North Korean entity and a Chinese company.
In response to embargoes, the ownership may have changed, and the current proprietors' nationalities could not be determined, according to the report.
North Korean dancers and performers may also be exempt from being sent back home.
One source who worked at one of the restaurants said performers could stay as part of a "cultural exchange" agreement between China and North Korea.
