U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed North Korea and a handful of other countries for the disappearances of citizens deemed to be threats to their regimes.

In a statement Friday marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Pompeo criticized authoritarian regimes and specifically cited Myanmar, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Iraq.

He said advocates for freedom and human rights, journalists, political opponents and others often disappear in silence as they challenge authority in their countries. 

While he specifically mentioned the regimes of Assad in Syria and Maduro in Venezuela, Washington's top diplomat stopped short of directly talking about North Korea's Kim Jong-un in his statement.  

Pompeo went on to say that the practice of enforced disappearances is unconscionable, and regimes that do so are proving they are weak and fragile. 

The State Department has steadily raised issue with enforced disappearances perpetrated by the North Korean regime including in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, which was released in March. 

The latest statement comes amid stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang and the North Korean foreign minister's recent criticism of Pompeo over his remarks about tough sanctions on North Korea.