North Korea: New travel advisory issued by the U.S. State Department (Sept. 1)

Event

On September 1, the U.S. Department of State updated its North Korea travel advisory, advising its citizens to avoid travelling to North Korea ''due to the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals". Individuals can no longer use a U.S. passport to travel to or through North Korea without a "special validation" from the Bureau of Consular Affairs. The State Department specifies that ''special validations are granted in very limited circumstances, including for diplomatic or humanitarian activities''.

Context

As a reminder, most Western authorities advise their citizens against all but essential travel to North Korea (DPRK). At the moment, the United States is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in North Korea, due to the absence of any official diplomatic or consular relations between Washington and Pyongyang. Currently, the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang provides limited emergency services for U.S. citizens in North Korea.