US travel ban to N. Korea in force

SEOUL: Washington’s ban on United States citizens travelling to North Korea came into force on Friday, with the two countries at loggerheads over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions.

The measure was imposed following the death of student Otto Warmbier, 22, in June, a few days after he was sent home in a mysterious coma following more than a year in prison in the North.

He had been convicted of offences against the state for trying to steal a propaganda poster from a Pyongyang hotel and was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour, with President Donald Trump blaming Pyongyang’s “brutal regime” for his plight.

The State Department said it took the decision due to “the serious and mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of US citizens”.

Three Americans accused of crimes against the state are behind bars in the North, which is engaged in a tense standoff with the Trump administration over its banned missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang launched a missile over Japan, in a major escalation, and then threatened to fire rockets towards the US Pacific territory of Guam.

In July, it carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental-range missile, apparently bringing much of the US mainland into range.

Exemptions to the travel ban are available for journalists, Red Cross representatives, those travelling for humanitarian purposes, or journeys the State Department deems to be in the national interest of the US.

But non-governmental organisations working in the North have expressed concerns about how the process will function and impact their work. AFP