Research Insights
U.S. Government to Ban Travel to North Korea
Effective Sept. 1, 2017, U.S. citizens are prohibited from traveling to North Korea.
The Trump Administration announced on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, that it would prohibit Americans from traveling to North Korea. The prohibition will formally go into effect on September 1, 2017 and will be in effect for one year, unless extended or sooner revoked by the Secretary of State.
The prohibition will prevent the use of U.S. passports to travel to, in, or through North Korea. Travel to, in, or through North Korea by U.S. citizens would require the traveler obtain a passport with a special validation, but only in limited special circumstances and at the State Department’s discretion. The validation may be determined to be in the national interest if the applicant’s travel is related to professional journalism or reporting, the applicant is a representative of the Red Cross, or is justified by compelling humanitarian considerations, or the travel is otherwise in the national interest.
While American citizen travel to North Korea is already exceedingly rare, the ban will end all travel absent State Department permission in special circumstances.
Contact Dan Runge, Export Compliance Officer, at drunge@uga.edu or 542-4188 with any questions.