U.S. Relations With the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - United States Department of State

Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet

July 22, 2024

More information about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is available on the North Korea country page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet.

The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). U.S. policy towards the DPRK aims to ensure peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, including through the pursuit of complete denuclearization.

U.S. Assistance to DPRK

In the past, the United States provided food and other emergency aid to the DPRK during times of famine and natural disasters, upon request by the DPRK. The United States does not currently provide any aid to the DPRK government. A number of U.S.-based NGOs have historically been active in the DPRK, providing aid to fight infectious diseases and to improve farming practices in rural areas. Strict border closures imposed by the DPRK at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, have greatly hampered such activities.

Bilateral Economic Relations

The United States imposed a near-total economic embargo on the DPRK in 1950 after the DPRK attacked the Republic of Korea (ROK), sparking the Korean War. In recent decades, the United States and many U.S. allies and partners, along with the United Nations Security Council, have imposed a wide range of sanctions on the DPRK, primarily aimed at restricting funding for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

DPRK’s Membership in International Organizations

The DPRK and the United States belong to some of the same international organizations and multilateral institutions, including the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

Bilateral Representation

The United States does not maintain diplomatic representation in the DPRK.  Sweden serves as the U.S. protecting power in the DPRK and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens through its embassy in Pyongyang. The DPRK has no embassy in Washington, DC, but it does maintain a permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.

More information about the DPRK is available from the Department of State and other sources, some of which are listed here:

CIA World Factbook North Korea Page 
U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics 
Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions Page 
Library of Congress Country Studies 
Travel Information