The Wall Street Journal reports investors are showing a growing interest in North Korea’s defaulted bonds in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death, which is expected to help facilitate the opening of the communist country.

The U.S. business newspaper recently said the dealings of North Korea’s only openly traded securities, a batch of bonds that have not received a payment in almost three decades, have increased since Kim's death.

The daily cited London-based sales and brokerage house Exotix as saying that the North Korean bonds saw a lift this week and were quoted at 14 to 18 cents on the dollar, up from the previous price of 13 to 15 cents.

The North Korean bonds were created when French bank BNP repackaged a series of nonperforming syndicated bank loans that were granted to North Korea in the 1970s by 100 foreign banks.

Investors are expecting that North Korea will have to first clear its 30-year-old unpaid bonds if it is committed to opening up itself.