The Biden administration is extending the restriction on using American passports to enter North Korea by another year, the State Department announced on Tuesday. Every year since it was first implemented in 2017, the prohibition has been extended.
The most recent extension comes as tensions with North Korea are increasing due to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities as well as Travis King’s uncertain situation after he reached the country last month across its strongly fortified border.
“The Department of State has decided there continues to be serious risk to U.S. citizens as well as nationals of arrest and long-term imprisonment constituting imminent danger to their physical safety,” the department stated in a notice that was signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and was scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday.
Under the ban, it is prohibited to travel to, from, or through North Korea using a U.S. passport unless a compelling national interest clearly justifies the use of the passport. Unless it is extended or revoked, it will be in effect until August 31, 2024.
Rex Tillerson, the previous secretary of state under the Trump administration, originally enacted the restriction in 2017, following the passing of American student Otto Warmbier, who had suffered severe injuries while detained by North Korea.
In January 2016, while Warmbier was preparing to leave North Korea as part of a group tour, he was detained on suspicion of stealing a propaganda poster. Later, he was found guilty of subversion and given a 15-year prison term. Six days after his arrival back in the country, Warmbier passed away in a Cincinnati hospital.
Concern has been voiced by humanitarian organizations on how the first ban and subsequent extensions have affected the ability to provide aid to North Korea, a reclusive nation that is among the most in need in the world.
There is no proof that King entered North Korea using a U.S. passport when he crossed the border in July. The United States is attempting to get him back, but has had little success in doing so.
On August 16, North Korea released a statement through its official media attributing comments made by an Army soldier that were critical of the United States to King. This was the nation’s first public confirmation of King’s presence in the nation.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether King actually said any of the things. On July 18, he dashed into North Korea while on a tour of a border village as a civilian and became the first American confirmed to have been imprisoned in the North in almost five years. He had previously served in South Korea.