US extends travel ban on North Korea for another year

A woman holds American and North Korean flags as she walks along Sword Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. AP-Yonhap

The United States has extended its travel ban on North Korea for one more year, a U.S. government notice showed Wednesday.

The State Department announced the extension of the ban through Aug. 31, 2023, in the Federal Register notice published Tuesday (U.S. time). The restriction ― initially imposed in 2017 and since renewed every year ― was set to expire at the end of this month.

"The Department of State has determined there continues to be serious risk to U.S. citizens and nationals of arrest and long-term detention constituting imminent danger to their physical safety," it read. "Accordingly, all U.S. passports shall remain invalid for travel to, in, or through the DPRK unless specially validated for such travel under the authority of the Secretary of State."

The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

In September 2017, the U.S. banned travel to North Korea after the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student who had suffered serious injuries while in North Korean custody for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. (Yonhap)