U.S. bans travel to North Korea starting Sept. 1

The State Department formally announced on Wednesday a ban on U.S. passport holders traveling to North Korea starting on Sept. 1. The travel alert added that American citizens currently in the communist country should leave before that date, but journalists and humanitarian workers could apply for exemptions from the ban. The State Department said it reached its decision due to “the serious risk to United States nationals of arrest and long-term detention.” The United States first announced the ban last month following the death of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student arrested and detained by the North Korean government. Warmbier returned to the United States on June 13 in coma and died six days later.