Foreign relations of North Korea
North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. The country's foreign relations have been dominated by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties to the Soviet Union. Both the government of North Korea and the government of South Korea claim to be the sole legitimate government of the whole of Korea. The de facto end of the Korean War left North Korea in a military confrontation with South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Juche Tower, Pyongyang
Kim Il-sung's 80th birthday ceremony with international guests, in 1992.
The historic Trump–Kim summit in June 2018
The Korean DMZ, viewed from the north
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
North Korea has a military nuclear weapons program and, as of 2024, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 50 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of chemical and biological weapons. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since 2006, the country has conducted six nuclear tests at increasing levels of expertise, prompting the imposition of sanctions.
Military parade in Pyongyang, 2015 featuring soldiers with CBRN equipment
North Korea's ballistic missile
Kim Jong Un, with what North Korea claims is a miniaturized silver spherical nuclear bomb, at a missile factory in early 2016.
5 MWe experimental reactor at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center