The Department of State strongly warns U.S. citizens not to travel to North Korea/the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Due to the serious and mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens, the Secretary of State restricted the use of U.S. passports to travel into, in, or through North Korea effective Friday, September 1, 2017, per C.F.R. 51.63. Persons who wish to travel to North Korea on a U.S. passport after that time must obtain a special passport validation under 22 C.F.R. 51.64, and such validations will be granted only under very limited circumstances.
This notice includes information about the restriction on the use of U.S. passports to travel to, through, or in North Korea effective September 1, 2017, and replaces the Travel Warning dated May 9, 2017.
North Korean authorities have imposed unduly harsh sentences for actions that would not be considered crimes in the United States and have threatened 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. Sweden serves as the protecting power for the United States in North Korea, providing limited emergency consular services to U.S. citizens traveling in North Korea. The DPRK still routinely delays or denies consular access to U.S. citizens, even when requested by the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, and despite North Korea and the United States both being signatories to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
At least 16 U.S. citizens have been detained in North Korea in the past ten years. North Korean authorities have detained individuals who traveled independently and those who were part of organized tours. Being a member of a group tour or using a tour guide will not prevent detention or arrest. Efforts by private tour operators to prevent or resolve past detentions in the DPRK have not been successful.