The ban prohibits U.S. citizens from using their passports to visit North Korea unless they obtain "special validations on a limited basis."
The travel restriction has been extended annually since 2017 and will now remain in effect until August next year. "U.S. passports are not valid for travel to, in, or through North Korea," the department said.
It explained the ongoing risk of U.S. citizens being detained or imprisoned for long periods in North Korea was the reason for the extension.
The ban was first imposed in September 2017 following the death of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was imprisoned and tortured in North Korea in 2016 on an unclear charge of subversion. He died a year later after being released in a vegetative state. The ban has been renewed annually since then.
Under the ban, U.S. citizens who want to travel to the isolated country for specific purposes must obtain special approval. This approval may be granted with limited exceptions for professional journalists or those with urgent humanitarian causes that align with U.S. national interests.
However, since North Korea closed its borders in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, travel to the country remains virtually impossible.
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