, North Korea had diplomatic relations with 166 countries and embassies in 47 countries . However , owing to the human rights and political situation , the DPRK is not recognised by Argentina , Botswana , Estonia , France , Iraq , Israel , Japan , Taiwan , and the United States . This means that in September 2017 , France and Estonia are the last two European countries that do not have an official relationship with North Korea . North Korea continues to have strong ties with its socialist southeast Asian allies in Vietnam and Laos , as well as with Cambodia . As a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program , the Six-Party Talks were established to find a peaceful solution to the growing tension between the two Korean governments , Russia , China , Japan , and the United States . The talks were discontinued in 2009 . North Korea was previously designated a state sponsor of terrorism because of its alleged involvement in the 1983 Rangoon bombing and the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner . On 11 October 2008 , the United States removed North Korea from its list of states that sponsor terrorism after Pyongyang agreed to cooperate on issues related to its nuclear program . North Korea was re-designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. under the Trump administration on 20 November 2017 , 9 years after it was removed from the list . The kidnapping of at least 13 Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and the 1980s has affected North Korea 's relationship with Japan
1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner
Korean Air Flight 858
North Korea