Former US envoy calls for lifting North Korea travel ban to allow humanitarian aid

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- A former U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights issues stressed the need Monday for the United States to ease its longstanding ban on U.S. citizens' travel to North Korea, noting that the prohibition has also prevented Americans from offering humanitarian aid to the reclusive state.

In an article released on the website of the Korea Economic Institute of America, Robert King, who served as special envoy for North Korean human rights issues from 2009-2017, said that the U.S. has renewed the travel ban with no public assessment of what a decade of prohibition has accomplished.

Washington put the ban in place in September 2017 after North Korea released Otto Warmbier, a U.S. college student, following 17 months of detention. Warmbier, who returned home in a vegetative state and died days later, had been imprisoned in the North on charges of anti-state activities. The ban has been extended annually.

"The extension of the travel ban comes without any effort to identify whether it has been helpful. Over the last decade, the travel ban has been extended with no indication of improving North Korea's attitude toward the U.S. or the conditions under which the North Korean people suffer," King wrote.

"The prohibition has kept American tourists from taking 'unforgettable' and expensive tours to North Korea, but it has also prevented U.S. citizens from providing much-needed humanitarian assistance," he added.

The former envoy acknowledged that there is still "good reason" for concern that some "naive" tourists may fail to recognize the potential problems, dangers and differences in Pyongyang that can involve serious risks of punishment for U.S. travelers.

But he stressed that humanitarian aid groups understand how to work with North Korean officials to provide assistance.

"They are much more sensitive and experienced in dealing with government officials in North Korea than the average American tourist visiting North Korea," he said. "There is much they can offer in terms of knowledge and experience if it is made easier for them to go to North Korea."

King also urged the State Department to provide travel documents free of charge to humanitarian workers.

"Currently, the legal costs paid to the government are a burden to U.S. humanitarian groups that provide charitable help for North Koreans," he said.

"The current language describing how to get the special permission required for a U.S. citizen to travel to North Korea for humanitarian reasons says, 'We may grant you an exception to travel if you qualify,'" he said. "The use of 'may' is the wrong word. It should read that the United States 'will' grant exceptions to all who qualify."