Cambodia hosts the biggest number of North Korean restaurants except for China. Ten restaurants from the North have opened since 2003, when Pyongyang Cold Noodle Restaurant was launched in Phnom Penh. Half of them, however, were closed as of the second half of last year.

The noodle restaurant specializing in "naengmyeon," or cold buckwheat noodles, has ceased to offer kimchi to two shopping malls operated by Japan's retail giant Aeon and a Hong Kong-Cambodia joint venture.

A source said the two shopping malls have decided not to deal with North Korean-made foodstuff due to anti-North Korean sentiment, adding, "the annual sales from the malls are not so big at about $20,000. But it goes to show that North Korea is feeling the pinch, even in such a traditional ally as Cambodia."

The Cambodian government expressed concern about the North's nuclear and missile tests and urged the North to stop raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula twice last year.

Cambodia is seen as keeping its distance from the North. It rejected the North's invitation to Prime Minister Hun Sena to visit Pyongyang and a visit to the Southeast Asian nation by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong and North Korean ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam in the first half of last year. (Yonhap)