Since the death of American student Otto Warmbier in June, tensions between North Korea and the United States have worsened. CNN indicated Congress would take up legislation banning all Americans from traveling to the dictatorship sometime in July, but these efforts apparently weren’t fast enough for the White House, as a new report claims Donald Trump’s administration will soon institute their own travel ban.
According to the Associated Press, State Secretary Rex Tillerson will implement a “geographic travel restriction” on North Korea for all American citizens. The restriction will render entry into the country illegal for anyone carrying a bona fide U.S. passport, though it won’t go into effect until 30 days after the official restriction is published in the Federal Register, according to several anonymous officials. Neither the State Department nor the White House has offered any official comment, though a BBC News story about the ban citing two Chinese-based tourism companies suggests the ban will be announced Thursday, July 27th.
Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours, the latter being the company that took Warmbier into North Korea, issued statements regarding the ban on Friday. “We have just been informed that the US government will no longer be allowing US citizens to travel to the DPRK (North Korea),” read one. “It is expected that the ban will come into force within 30 days of July 27th. After the 30 day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government.”
Unfortunately, the alleged travel ban will also put a damper on Dennis Rodman’s budding bromance with Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s authoritarian leader. It seems his presenting a copy of the president’s book, The Art of the Deal to the dictator last month wasn’t enough to sway Trump.
(Via Associated Press, BBC News and CNN)