MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2020) The US Department of State has extended the ban for its nationals to travel to North Korea for another year, citing a risk of detention for US passport holders, a public notice published by the US Federal Register said.
"The Department of State has determined that there continues to be serious risk to United States citizens and nationals of arrest and long-term detention representing imminent danger to their physical safety," the statement said.
According to the State Department, the extension of the travel ban took effect on September 1 and will be valid until August 31, 2021. The ban can be removed or extended again depending on the decision of the US state secretary.
The ban was introduced in 2017 and then repeatedly extended, with an exception for officials and journalists.
Travel was prohibited after Otto Warmbier, a US college student, was arrested while on a tourist trip to North Korea in January 2016 for trying to steal a political poster. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was returned to the United States in an unconscious state 17 months later and died shortly thereafter.
