New travel restrictions to North Korea require special validation

The Hill:
Americans hoping to travel to North Korea will soon be required to obtain a special passport validation, the State Department announced Wednesday.

The validations will be "granted only under very limited circumstances" and will go into effect Sept. 1, according to a travel alert issued by the department.

The alert cites "serious and mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens under North Korea’s system of law enforcement" as the reason for rule.

The travel alert also directs all U.S. passport holders currently in North Korea to leave the country before the restrictions take effect.
...
I remain surprised that anyone would still like to go to the despotic hermit kingdom.  My main requirement for such a trip is a guarantee of a billion dollars for each of my heirs if I were not allowed to return to the US.

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