US bans citizens from traveling to North Korea

The US State Department confirmed on July 21 that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had ordered a ban on US citizens from traveling to North Korea following the death of student Otto Warmbier.

A North Korean tour guide in the capital Pyongyang - Photo: Reuters

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said US citizens will be banned from traveling to North Korea. The ban will be officially announced next week and will take effect 30 days after it is announced.

"Due to growing concerns about the risk of arrest and lengthy detention under North Korea's law enforcement system, the Secretary of State has ordered travel restrictions on all US citizens using passports to travel to North Korea," AFP quoted Ms. Nauert as saying.

Those who want to go to North Korea for humanitarian or other reasons will need a special passport.

Previously, Koryo Travel, a travel agency that organizes tours to North Korea, said the ban would be announced on July 27. However, it is not clear how long the ban will last.

Meanwhile, travel agency Young Pioneer Tours said on Twitter that it had also been informed of the ban. Young Pioneer is the travel agency that organized the tour program that brought American student Otto Warmbier to North Korea.

“After 30 days, the passports of any US citizens traveling to North Korea will be invalidated by the US government,” the company said on its website.

Both were informed by the Swedish embassy, ​​which represents the United States in North Korea as Washington has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Rowan Beard, an official with Young Pioneer Tours, said the Swedish embassy was urging US citizens in North Korea to leave and was checking on the number of Americans still remaining.

Warmbier, 22, a student at the University of Virginia, was arrested in early 2016 after removing a propaganda banner from a hotel in Pyongyang. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March last year. Warmbier died in a Cincinnati hospital on June 19, days after being returned to the United States in a coma.

The US State Department continues to discuss with North Korea the release of three other US citizens being held in North Korea on various charges, including subversion.

According to TTO