People bow as they pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to mark the ten year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, on Mansu hill in Pyongyang, Dec. 16. AFP-Yonhap

The United States continues to keep North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a state department report showed Thursday.

North Korea has been on the list of state sponsors of terrorism since 2017 when North Korean agents assassinated leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, Kim Jong-nam, using chemical agents in Malaysia.

"In 2017 the Secretary of State determined the DPRK had repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism since its State Sponsor of Terrorism designation was rescinded in 2008," said the report, noting the North was first designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 for its involvement in the tragic bombing of a South Korean passenger jet the year before.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.