TOKYO — Until a few years ago, Americans traveled to North Korea for a host of reasons. Korean Americans reunited with loved ones from whom they were separated during the Korean War. Medical groups treated patients and trained doctors. Cultural exchange programs sought to introduce sports and entertainment, such as surfing and the New York Philharmonic.
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But those trips ended in 2017, when the Trump administration imposed a travel ban after the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student who traveled to the totalitarian country and was arrested and detained on charges of stealing a propaganda poster. He died days after being flown home in a coma.
Now, humanitarian groups and other advocates are urging the Biden administration to end the travel ban, which is set to expire on Sept. 1 after being renewed every year since it took effect.
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Last week, peace activists, humanitarian and nongovernment organizations, and Korean American groups representing separated families met with administration officials to make their case. They argued that ending the ban would allow families to reunite with their aging loved ones, bring medical and humanitarian aid to those who need it the most, and help ordinary North Koreans and Americans to learn more about one another beyond what’s reported in the news.
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They noted that during the presidential campaign, candidate Joe Biden promised to “reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades” — and that ending the ban would be an important step. They added that thousands of Korean American families have safely traveled to North Korea over the years to reunite with their families.
“It prevents separated families from finding out information about each other and going to visit relatives in North Korea,” said Ji-Yeon Yuh, Northwestern University professor and co-founder of the advocacy group Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea, who attended the meeting. “The death of Otto Warmbier is a tragedy, but it’s also a tragic exception.”
For now, these groups can’t enter even if the ban is revoked. North Korea’s border has been sealed to trade and visitors since the pandemic took hold, and most diplomats and international aid groups have left the country because of covid restrictions.
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But ending the ban would allow humanitarian and development workers to prepare to return as soon as North Korea reopens and resume delivering aid that had been cut off during the pandemic, said Keith Luse, executive director of Washington-based think tank National Committee on North Korea.
“As the border reopens, those workers providing assistance must be able to move expeditiously. The border closure is depriving the neediest of North Korea’s citizens, including tuberculosis patients, [of] essential medication and care,” Luse said. “When the counting is done, it may be determined that more of North Korea's citizens perished from consequences of the quarantine than from covid-19.”
The State Department declined to say whether the secretary of state plans on extending or revoking the ban when it expires on Sept. 1.
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A spokeswoman said in a statement that the “safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas is one of our highest priorities” and that the ban was extended last September “due to continuing concerns over the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention in North Korea.”
The State Department’s ban allows exemptions for “extremely limited purposes in the U.S. national interest” through a special validation process. Several nongovernmental organizations said that this process has created logistical burdens because an exemption must be obtained for each trip, with no scope for multiple entries.
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In a letter this month to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, advocates said the detention of U.S. citizens is far more common in other countries where travel is legal.
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“The great weight of historical data suggests that careful attention to one’s activity while in North Korea, and those traveling there with permission of the North Korean government or a recognized sponsor, are unlikely to experience any impact on their safety,” the letter reads.
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During a visit to South Korea this week, President Biden’s special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, said he is ready to meet with his North Korean counterparts after stalled nuclear talks. He and South Korean officials said they discussed ways to facilitate diplomacy, including through humanitarian work.
Christine Ahn, the founder of peace activism group Women Cross DMZ, said ending the travel ban would provide a natural way for U.S. officials to engage with North Korea.
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“You can’t have a pragmatic and calibrated approach and yet maintain an anachronistic Trump-era policy,” Ahn said. “Talk is cheap, and this is an easy lift for the Biden administration. [The ban] hampers people-to-people engagement, family reunions and .？.？. improving relations with North Korea.”
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