, 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
Rangoon bombing
Rangoon bombing
North Korea