Team Trump on Monday extended a ban on Americans traveling to North Korea by forbidding the use of US passports to gain entry to the hermit kingdom for another year.
The State Department said the ban would remain in place until Aug. 31, 2020, unless revoked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a move that comes despite President Trump’s frequent warm words for the rogue regime’s dictator, Kim Jong Un.
The ban was imposed last September by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and renewed in 2018.
Tillerson took the unusual step following the death of an American student, Otto Warmbier, who had been detained in North Korea.
The State Department said it determined “there continues to be serious risk to United States nationals of arrest and long-term detention” for Americans traveling to North Korea, according to the notice.
The ban allows certain categories of American citizens, such as aid workers or journalists, to obtain a special validation passport good for one trip to North Korea.
The move comes amid stalled efforts to restart nuclear talks between North Korea and the US, and after a series of missile tests conducted by Pyongyang.