U.S. set to ban N.Korea travel

[Tanuki]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/united-states-set-to-ban-its-citizens-from-travel-to-north-korea-20170721-gxgbrs.html
"Seoul: Two tour agencies that arrange trips to North Korea said on Friday the US government will soon ban its citizens from travelling there, after the death of a US student arrested there while on a tour.

Koryo Tours said the ban would be announced on July 27 and would go into effect 30 days later. It said the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which handles consular affairs for the United States in the North, informed it of the ban, but did not say how long it would last.
.......
Another tour operator, Young Pioneer Tours, said on its Web site that it had also been informed of the ban, citing the same date.

"After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government," it said.

The US embassy in the South Korean capital, Seoul, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.".....(more)

[Not Ruth]

1. I wonder if this will increase tourism to China

Supposedly possible to sneak across the border from China to North Korea if you really wanted to visit.

[jberryhill]

2. Why do I doubt that the two tour agencies would be best positioned to know this in advance?

That might be something they heard from someone, but it is unusual for the US to "ban" its citizens from traveling to places.

This sounds more like a marketing effort on their part.

"US is going to ban DPRK travel soon, so get your trip in now if you have a hankering to go."

[Tanuki]

3. Maybe because they got their information from the Swedish Consulate,

who officially handles U.S.-N.Korean affairs? Maybe the Swedes don't want to get drawn into messes like the recent sad Warmbier episode any longer than necessary. Maybe because, with what our own dear Ferret recently dubbed the War on Competence, Trump has a woefully understaffed State Department (including no Undersecretary of East Asian Affairs), and so no designated spokesperson for such things. In any event, Reuters is reporting that this has been confirmed by someone at State who asked not to be named but who said there will be an official announcement later.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-tours-idUSKBN1A60SE

[jberryhill]

4. The Swedish consulate would likewise not be in a position to know

There is no reason why the Swedish consulate in DPRK would have any advance knowledge of such a proposal either. Even if they did know, for whatever reason I could not imagine, I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons they are trusted is that they don't share a whole lot of information with others.

The nice thing about the travel agencies saying they were the source is that the consulate would not confirm or deny such a thing either.

It's pretty clear that Koryo and Young Pioneers make a decent return on their "bow to the statue, ride the subway, and watch the kids sing and dance" tours. I'd guess their bookings may be off recently, both from Americans and from others who don't want to be around when Americans do stupid shit. For example, one of the attractions to Canadians and Europeans traveling to Cuba was that "Americans can't do this" (subject to exceptions like the thinly-disguised "cultural or educational exchange" exceptions). This "news" helps thetour agencies more than it hurts them.

[Tanuki]

5. One of agencies, Young Pioneers, already announced last month that they would no longer

book Americans on their tours in the wake of the Otto Warmbier story. He was on one of their tours at the time of his arrest. I don't know why you think the Swedish Embassy, which handles U.S.-DPRK consular affairs, would not have been given a heads up prior to a public announcement.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/20/tour-firm-otto-warmbier-stops-taking-us-citizens-north-korea-young-pioneer-tours

[Lee-Lee]

6. It would make sense for State to alert them

It is not a national security issue, and I suspect they would rather do so in such a way where there is enough advanced warning that they don't have people just about to go and already booked and paid or on the ground there when the ban takes effect.

It makes far more sense to alert now to avoid all the possible issues that could happen if your surprise them with it.