North Korea's 'Ever Victorious' firms face China axe
From restaurants with singing waitresses, to secluded traders in back alleys, North Korean businesses in Beijing face a precarious start to the New Year with a looming, sanctions-linked January deadline to shut up shop. Accounting for 90 percent of North Korea's trade, China is a major outpost for what little financial and economic interests its secretive ally has abroad. In visits to a dozen North Korean companies in the Chinese capital, AFP found that many owners and staff were unsure whether they would have to leave.