UN voting record · Asia
How North Korea votes at the UN
North Korea votes with Russia more than any other UN member. In 2025, it agreed with Russia on 95% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), with China on 92% and with the United States on 15%. It votes no on resolutions about Ukraine, on human rights resolutions about particular countries and on Japan's resolution on its nuclear weapons.
- 95%
With RussiaIts closest match in 2025 - 92%
With ChinaIn 2024: 88% - 87%
With IndiaIn 2024: 77% - 15%
With the USIn 2024: 22%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which North Korea and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Who votes with North Korea at the UN?
In 2025, North Korea agreed with Russia on 95% of recorded votes, more than any other member did. Its next closest matches were Bolivia and Eswatini (94%) and Belarus, Nicaragua and Syria (93%). It co-founded the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations in 2021 with Russia, China, Iran and others. A member of the Group of 77 (the UN's caucus of developing countries), it votes yes on development, climate, Cuba and Palestine texts. On the 43 votes in 2025 where the United States was the only no, North Korea voted yes on 38. Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, said in 2021 that North Korea is "prepared to respond willingly at any time" if the United States gives up what he called its "hostile policy".
The United States voted no on 174 of 192 recorded votes in 2025, so the average member's agreement with it fell from 46% in 2024 to 14%. North Korea and Russia signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty in June 2024. Their agreement was 89% to 90% from 2022 to 2024 and reached 95% in 2025, when the average member's agreement with Russia also rose. It parts from its usual partners on some disarmament texts. It voted no on South Korea's resolution on youth and disarmament, with the United States the only other no.
How does North Korea vote on Ukraine?
North Korea voted no on every main Ukraine resolution, alongside Russia and Belarus. The March 2022 resolution "deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine." Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, told the Assembly in March 2022 that the root cause of the crisis "totally lies in the hegemonic policy of the United States and the West." Kim Song said the civilian deaths in Bucha "have not been verified or proved based on real facts and objective evidence." The UN human rights office later documented the killing of 73 civilians in Bucha. In February 2025, North Korea's delegate cited Russia's "just cause to defend the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity" (UN automatic transcript). In December 2025, North Korea's representative called claims about Ukrainian children "nothing more than politically driven propaganda" (UN automatic transcript).
In October 2024, a North Korean diplomat called reports of troops in Russia "groundless stereotyped rumors." South Korea's representative told the Assembly in February 2025: "No one imagined that North Korea would take part in this unjust war when it began" (UN automatic transcript). North Korea acknowledged in April 2025 that its soldiers were fighting in Russia's Kursk region under the treaty. South Korea's intelligence service estimated about 15,000 troops sent and around 2,000 deaths by September 2025.
- Mar 2022"Aggression against Ukraine"141 yes, 5 no, 35 abstainedNo
- Apr 2022Suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council93 yes, 24 no, 58 abstainedNo
- Oct 2022"Territorial integrity of Ukraine"143 yes, 5 no, 35 abstainedNo
- Feb 2025Peace in Ukraine, February 202593 yes, 18 no, 65 abstainedNo
- Dec 2025Return of Ukrainian children91 yes, 12 no, 57 abstainedNo
What do General Assembly resolutions say about North Korea's nuclear weapons and human rights?
The Assembly's 2025 resolution on the test ban "reiterates its condemnation of the six nuclear tests" by North Korea. Japan's 2025 resolution says North Korea "cannot and will never be recognized as a nuclear-weapon State." North Korea did not vote on the test-ban resolution. It voted no on Japan's. It wrote its nuclear status into its constitution in September 2023. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong told the Assembly on September 29, 2025: "We will never give up nuclear which is our state law, national policy and sovereign power as well as the right to existence."
The Assembly has adopted a resolution on North Korea's human rights without a vote since 2016. The last recorded vote was in 2015: 119 votes to 19, with 48 abstentions. The 2025 resolution, submitted by the European Union, welcomes a UN human rights office report updating the 2014 Commission of Inquiry, which found crimes against humanity in North Korea. It demands the return of abductees and encourages the Security Council to consider an International Criminal Court referral. It was adopted on December 18, 2025, with 61 co-sponsors including South Korea and Japan. In 2025, Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, said North Korea "strongly condemns and totally rejects" the text, calling it "political plots." North Korea votes no each year on the resolution on human rights in Iran and opposes such resolutions about particular countries.
- Dec 2025The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty176 yes, 1 no, 3 abstainedDidn't vote
- Dec 2025Japan's resolution on a world without nuclear weapons147 yes, 5 no, 26 abstainedNo
- Dec 2025The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons119 yes, 45 no, 12 abstainedNo
Which countries vote most like North Korea?
Compare with any country →North Korea's closest matches in 2025 are Russia, Bolivia, Eswatini, Belarus, Nicaragua and Syria. Its least alike are the United States, Israel, Argentina, Nauru and Paraguay.
Bolivia
Eswatini
Belarus
Nicaragua
Syria- United States15%
Israel26%
Argentina32%
Nauru45%
Paraguay60%
How did North Korea vote on the big votes?
| Vote | North Korea | United States | China | Russia | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | No | No | Abstained | No | Adopted 93–18 |
| Russia's invasion of UkraineMarch 2, 2022 | No | Yes | Abstained | No | Adopted 141–5 |
| Suspending Russia from the Human Rights CouncilApril 7, 2022 | No | Yes | No | No | Adopted 93–24 |
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does North Korea sit?
North Korea sits in the large group on the left of the strip, between China and Russia.
South Korea
United Kingdom
Japan
Iran