US Travel Ban to North Korea Set to Expire on September 1st
There is no reason why this travel ban should be allowed to expire. The North Koreans have never come clean about what happened to Otto Warmbier and allowing Americans to travel to North Korea gives the Kim regime a fresh pool of hostages to grab when the current negotiations inevitably collapse:
A U.S. ban on its citizens traveling to North Korea is expected to expire at the end of this month.
The U.S. government announced on Aug. 2 last year that U.S. passport holders were banned from traveling to North Korea for a year. The ban took effect on Sept. 1.
There has been no announcement from the U.S. government of an extension.
The travel ban followed the death of U.S. college student Otto Wombier, who suffered brain damage after he was detained by North Korea. [Korea Times]
“The North Koreans have never come clean about what happened to Otto Warmbier”
That is probably not true.
More likely, his Christian parents who refused an autopsy do not want to discuss his suicide attempt.
Travel bans are a very third world, communist, dictatorial, slippery slope childish proclamation.
Better to simply explain American citizens are on their own and to expect no assistance that costs money or political capital.
There is some benefit to engagement… fat Americans showing up with nice electronics gawking at the locals.
just make it clear that if you go to nK, don’t expect help when they detain you. Government has no right to tell me where I can and can’t go.
@Chickenhead, if it was a suicide the Kim regime should have just said that is what happened which gets back to my point that they have not adequately explained what happened to him.
As far telling US citizens that if you travel to North Korea you are on your own, that sounds good in theory, but just about every time political capital has to be expended to get some one who had no business going to North Korea out of a jam.
Thus the first part of my statement. Keep the government out of my life and out of my wallet.