The State Department has yet to release a ban on travel to North Korea officially, however, according to two agencies that operate tours in North Korea, Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours, the ban would be announced on July 27th, 2017.
The two agencies were informed by the Swedish embassy, which conducts US affairs in the country.
Rowan Beard, of Young Pioneer Tours, informed the BBC that the Swedish Embassy was urging all US nationals to leave the country immediately and later stated that the embassy was trying to confirm the number of US citizens in the country.
The ban would take effect on July 27th, 2017 but the US would grant a grace period for tourists that remained in North Korea because according to Rowan; “After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government.”
Simon Cockerell, of Koryo Tours, said: “It remains to be seen what the exact text is, but the indication is it’s just a straight up ban on Americans going.”
The State Department has yet to update the alert from May 9th, 2017 urging US citizens not to travel to North Korea;
The Department of State strongly warns U.S. citizens not to travel to North Korea/the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). U.S. citizens in the DPRK are at serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea’s system of law enforcement. This system imposes unduly harsh sentences for actions that would not be considered crimes in the United States and threatens U.S. citizen detainees with being treated in accordance with “wartime law of the DPRK.” Since the United States does not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea, the U.S. government has no means to provide normal consular services to U.S. citizens in North Korea. This notice updates the number of U.S. citizens who have been detained in North Korea and replaces the Travel Warning dated February 7, 2017.
