North Korea's much-delayed museum in Cambodia, one of the reclusive state's allies in Asia, is now open to the public, but questions as to its true purpose remain.

The Angkor Panorama Museum, built and paid for by North Korea's state-owned Mansudae Overseas Project in cooperation with Cambodia's APSARA Authority, opened last month to much fanfare.

Many visiting the museum are no doubt curious why North Korea spent tens of millions of dollars on the tourist attraction. Was it to earn foreign currency, to enhance North Korea's political stature, or simply to showcase the North's technology?