North Korea — Country Risk Report

North Korea (Asia Pacific • East Asia). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Very high country risk, with elevated corruption risk. North Korea's country risk score is 9.0/10, placing it in the very high-risk band. Some information is unavailable, so the available parts are rebalanced and the country will not be labelled Low risk while information is missing. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside voice and accountability risk. North Korea is subject to a FATF call for action requiring countermeasures. North Korea is subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions. Firms should apply additional scrutiny where exposure involves state-linked entities, restricted sectors, sensitive technology, dual-use goods or politically exposed counterparties.

Recommended treatment

Enhanced due diligence, with restriction or prohibition of higher-risk activity.

At a glance

• FATF status: Black list (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
• Comprehensive country sanctions: in place. Targeted sanctions exposure: programmes in place, screen applicable lists
• Government effectiveness and rule of law: 6.8/10
• Corruption (CPI 2025): 15/100, rank #172 of 182
• Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 9.0/10 (Very high)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Some information unavailable. Limited supporting information. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

One of the three parts is unavailable. The available parts are rebalanced, and the result will not be labelled Low risk while information is missing.

How this score was calculated

• Financial crime controls: information unavailable — 0% of this score
• Government effectiveness and rule of law: 6.8/10 — 60% of this score
• International sanctions: 9.3/10 — 40% of this score
• Financial crime controls information is unavailable.
• FATF call-for-action status means the score cannot be lower than 9.0. This minimum set the final score.
• comprehensive international sanctions sets a minimum of 8.0, but the calculated score was already higher.

Principal risk drivers

• FATF call for action requiring countermeasures
• Comprehensive sanctions exposure
• Corruption (WGI) — 8.4/10
• Voice & accountability — 7.8/10
• Rule of law & institutions — 7.2/10

Mitigating factors

• Comparatively stronger political stability (2.9/10).
• Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

• Customer onboarding (Enhanced): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
• Payments and transactions (Enhanced): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
• Trade and export activity (Enhanced): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
• Corporate clients (Enhanced): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
• Ongoing monitoring (Enhanced): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

• Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
• Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
• Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
• Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
• Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
• Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

• State ownership / control
• PEP involvement
• Sensitive / restricted sectors
• Opaque ownership
• Adverse media
• Dual-use goods & technology
• High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Black list

High-Risk Jurisdiction Subject to a Call for Action. Subject to call for action and countermeasures. Last reviewed 19 Jun 2026; next FATF plenary Oct 2026.

Sanctions: Comprehensive

• EU — sectoral: Restrictive measures in relation to the non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction (source)
• OFAC — comprehensive: North Korea Sanctions (source)
• UK — sectoral: Democratic People's Republic of Korea sanctions (source)
• UN — sectoral: 1718 DPRK sanctions (source)

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

• UN: Yes (Sectoral)
• EU: Yes (Sectoral)
• UK: Yes (Sectoral)
• US: Yes (Comprehensive)

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

• Government Effectiveness: 27/100
• Regulatory Quality: 25/100
• Rule of Law: 31/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

Outside the FATF regional network.

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Not an Egmont Group member

Framework signals

• FATF listing: Black list
• International sanctions: comprehensive country programme
• Corruption (CPI 2025): 15/100, rank #172 of 182
• Rule of law (WGI): 7.2/10 risk

Sector exposure

• Banking & payments (High): FATF black-list call for action, correspondent lines likely severed
• Trade & export controls (High): Comprehensive sanctions embargo restricts most cross-border trade
• Crypto & virtual assets (High): FATF black-list status signals severe VASP supervision gaps
• Real estate & luxury assets (High): Severe corruption exposure (CPI 15/100) drives laundering risk
• State-linked & procurement (High): Comprehensive sanctions capture state entities and procurement

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

North Korea: analysis

North Korea's profile combines catastrophic governance with FATF blacklisting and a comprehensive sanctions regime. Governance is driven by corruption (severe), rule of law (severe), and voice and accountability (severe). The FATF black-list status is subject to a call for action and countermeasures as reviewed on 19 June 2026. Comprehensive OFAC sanctions apply, supplemented by UN, EU, and UK sectoral programmes. The CPI reading independently confirms the near-total absence of governance. No enforcement data is available from domestic regulators.

Outlook

North Korea's risk profile is the most acute available in this model and is not expected to improve. FATF countermeasures remain in force, and the multilateral sanctions architecture is comprehensive. Firms must apply the strictest prohibitions and should treat any exposure as a severe red flag requiring immediate escalation. The FATF plenary in October 2026 should be monitored for any listing review, though no change is anticipated.

Key watchpoints

• FATF black-list status and active call for countermeasures require firms to apply enhanced countermeasures in line with FATF Recommendation 19.
• Comprehensive OFAC sanctions prohibit virtually all US-nexus transactions; EU, UK, and UN sectoral programmes extend restrictions across financial services, arms, and trade.
• Monitor all channels for potential evasion typologies, including front companies, third-country intermediaries, and virtual-asset flows.
• FATF plenary in October 2026 should be tracked for any status review, though material improvement is not anticipated.

Assessment currency

• FATF status: Call for action: countermeasures (as of 19 Jun 2026)
• Sanctions exposure: Comprehensive programme in place (as of Jul 2026)
• Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
• Corruption (CPI): 15/100 (as of 2025)
• RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: countermeasures. FATF calls for countermeasures proportionate to the jurisdiction's risks.

Contextual signals (not scored)

• FATF network membership: No FATF or regional-body membership identified (absent, as of 2026-07)
• EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
• Egmont Group FIU: No Egmont member FIU identified (absent, as of 2026-07-17)
• Beneficial-ownership register: No live register identified in the source (unavailable, as of 2026-07-17)
• Transparency International CPI: 15/100, rank 172 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

• FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
• FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31
• World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
• UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-13

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

• Myanmar: 9.0/10 (Very high)
• Afghanistan: 7.0/10 (Very high)
• China: 6.0/10 (High)
• Hong Kong: 6.0/10 (High)
• Laos: 6.0/10 (High)
• Nepal: 6.0/10 (High)

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)