North Korea is a country under heavy international sanctions due to its ongoing human rights abuses and nuclear weapons program. Allowing them to participate in the Olympic Games undermines these sanctions and sends a message that their actions are acceptable on the world stage. The Olympics should stand for peace, unity, and fair play—values that North Korea consistently violates. By banning their participation, we uphold these values and pressure them to change their behavior. Please sign this petition to urge the International Olympic Committee to take action now!

A number of countries and international bodies have imposed international sanctions against North Korea. Currently, many sanctions are concerned with North Korea's nuclear weapons programmeand were imposed shortly after performing its first nuclear test in 2006.

The United States imposed sanctions in the 1950s and tightened them further after international bombings against South Korea by North Koreanagents during the 1980s, including the Rangoon bombing and the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858. In 1988, the United States added North Korea to its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Sanctions against North Korea started to ease during the 1990s when South Korea's then-liberal government pushed for engagement policies with the North. The Clinton administration signed the Agreed Framework with North Korea in 1994. However, the relaxation was short-lived; North Korea continued its nuclear program and officially withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, causing countries to reinstate various sanctions. UN Security Council Resolutions were passed after North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2017. Initially, sanctions were focused on trade bans on weapons-related materials and goods but expanded to luxury goods to target the elites. Further sanctions expanded to cover financial assets, banking transactions, and general travel and trade.

The sanctions on North Korea are mainly economic in nature, regulating North Korea's economic activities such as trade with China. The resolutions' sanction mainly 'demands North Korea refrain from further nuclear or missile tests and return to the NPT'. Moreover, the sanctions resolutions try to ban North Korea's ability of exporting their natural resources such as coal and iron ore, and prohibit member states' exports to North Korea, actions which may contribute to North Korea's further nuclear and missile tests.