US takes North Korea off the tourist trail

AMERICANS hankering for a drink at the Pyongyang beer festival or to run the city marathon in October are set to be sorely disappointed by a US government ban on tourism to North Korea.

The ban, which is due to start next Thursday, follows the death of US student Otto Warmbier, 22, who was arrested during a 2015 trip to the pariah state, and who died in June after returning from a North Korean prison in a coma. News of the restrictions was first confirmed on Friday by Young Pioneer Tours, the China-based company who arranged Warmbier’s holiday.

“It is expected that the ban will come into force within 30 days of July 27. After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government,” YPT said. US offi- cials later confirmed that Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, had decided to impose a “geographic travel restriction” for North Korea, a ruling which has previously stopped travel to Lebanon, Sudan, Cuba and North Vietnam.

Only 800 to 1,000 Americans are likely to be affected by a move unlikely to meet resistance from the US public.