Seoul sanctioned the two for their suspected involvement in illicit operations in May.
NK News previously reported that the restaurant is located in a luxurious riverside hotel and was still open as of earlier this year, employing North Korean staff and selling DPRK products in likely violation of international sanctions.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2397 banned North Koreans from working abroad as a means of financially supporting the Pyongyang regime’s weapons programs and required member states to repatriate all DPRK nationals by Dec. 2019.
In response to Panel inquiries, the Laotian government said that two out of the four restaurants in the country known to have employed DPRK citizens “transferred their ownership and operation to Lao citizens and were re-opened under the same restaurant names, continuing to serve Korean food,” according to the report.