U.S. to ban all tourists from travelling to North Korea

The U.S. is to announce a ban on all American tourists visiting North Korea, according to two travel agents who organize trips to the hermit kingdom. The ban is expected to come into force by the end of August and any citizen in violation of the edict will have their passports invalidated.

Washington has been considering a complete travel ban to North Korea for some time, but recent events like the death of U.S. student Otto Warmbier and Pyongyang’s successful test of a long-range missile are understood to have forced the White House into decisive action.

While the administration has yet to officially confirm the ban, Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours, which both operate tours to the country, said Friday that the move was set to be announced on July 27 — coinciding with North Korea’s holiday known as Victory Day.

The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which looks after U.S. affairs in North Korea, begun calling travel agencies Friday to inform them about the ban and urged all U.S. citizens to leave as soon as possible. The embassy is currently trying to get an accurate number of U.S. citizens in North Korea. It is estimated that around 1,250 U.S. citizens travel to the hermit kingdom each year.

Reports of how much income tourists provide to Pyongyang’s coffers run from $30 million to as much as $100 million, and the money is very useful to the government. “North Korea runs on a fairly low overhead [and] any legal form of income is useful to co-mingle and disguise the origin of illicit income,” North Korean analyst Joshua Stanton told VICE News. “That’s the essence of how money laundering works.”

There are expected to be certain exemptions to the ban to allow U.S. journalists and those working with charities to remain in the country.

“We have just been informed that the U.S. government will no longer be allowing U.S. citizens to travel to the DPRK [North Korea],” China-based Young Pioneer Tours said in a statement. “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.”

Koryo Tours said the move was unfortunate, since state-run media already presents a negative view of Americans. “One thing counteracting this – for the few people who can interact with them – is human level contact. And that now is not an option,” Simon Cockerell, general manager of Beijing-based agency told NK News.

In June, 22-year-old Otto Warmbier — who travelled to North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours — was flown back to the U.S. in a coma having being sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a propaganda poster in 2016. He died a week later, with his family claiming he had been subject to “awful torturous mistreatment.”

Three U.S. citizens remain in North Korean custody, two of whom were arrested earlier this year having worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST).

Back in May, Congress introduced legislation that would limit American citizens visiting North Korea. “Tourist travel to North Korea does nothing but provide funds to a tyrannical regime—that will in turn be used to develop weapons to threaten the United States and our allies, as I saw firsthand on a rare visit to Pyongyang,” Rep. Joe Wilson said at the time.

Washington has been eager to do something to counter North Korea’s development of nuclear missile technology, but one analyst believes this move will be more “bark than bite.”

“It will have no discernible effect on the DPRK’s prohibited programs or regime stability, and runs counter to the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry for countries to expand interaction with an isolated DPRK,” Tristan Webb, senior analyst at NK PRO, said.