Sources: US to ban Americans from traveling to North Korea

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: KOMO (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Trump administration will ban American citizens from traveling to North Korea following the death of university student Otto Warmbier who passed away after falling into a coma into a North Korean prison.

The officials said Friday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had decided to impose "geographic travel restriction" for North Korea, which would make the use of U.S. passports to enter the country illegal. They said the restriction would go into effect 30 days after a notice is published in the Federal Register, but it was not immediately clear when that would be. There was no announcement in Friday's editions of the government publication. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the decision before it is announced and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two tour operators that organize group trips to North Korea said they had already been informed of the decision.

Under U.S. law, the secretary of state has the authority to designate passports as restricted for travel to countries with which the United States is at war, when armed hostilities are in progress, or when there is imminent danger to the public health or physical security of United States travelers. Geographic travel restrictions are rare but have been used by numerous administrations in the past for countries where it has been determined to be unsafe. Since 1967, such bans have been imposed intermittently on countries such as Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Cuba and North Vietnam.

Read more: http://komonews.com/news/nation-world/sources-us-to-ban-americans-from-traveling-to-nkorea

[gordianot]

1. I know a young man who acted out William Tell with a friend.

Sometimes you have to say "No".

[erpowers]

2. I Do Not Agree With This Decision

Americans citizens should not be prevented from traveling to North Korea, unless the point is to take money from North Korea. It does not seem that it is dangerous for Americans to travel to North Korea. Yes, one young man recently died after going on a trip to North Korea. I do not want to make light of his death, but many Americans travel to North Korea and return without having any problems. In addition, we do not really know why this young man died. If this young many truly died due to some type of botulinum poisoning it is very possible that his death was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. Since Americans have been traveling to North Korea how many have died either in North Korea, or as a result of their treatment while in North Korea?

It is likely that there are many places and things that are far more dangerous for Americans than going to North Korea. Over the years how many Americans have died trying to climb Mount Everest? Are we going to ban Americans from trying to climb Mount Everest? How many Americans have died in skiing accident around the world? Are we going to ban skiing both in the United States and abroad? An American was recently beaten to death in Greece. Are we going to ban American from traveling to Greece?

Banning travel to North Korea seems to be an overreaction to a tragic incident. A better course of action would be to tell Americans interested in traveling to North Korea to be careful and follow the rules of North Korea.