Planning a North Korea trip? Don't, says the State Dept

Don't, says the State Dept
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 Updated 6:23 PM ET, Mon May 16, 2016
By Nicole Gaouette, CNN
Story highlights
State Department says that 14 U.S. citizens
detained there in last 10 years
Latest travel warning is especially blunt because
of increasing tensions
Washington (CNN) — The State Department is
urging any American thinking of a trip to
reclusive North Korea to think again. And they're
doing it in an unusually blunt and direct fashion.
The agency usually issues travel warnings every
six months on a variety of countries, but recent
legislation now requires it to issue travel
warnings about North Korea every 90 days. The
department issued its first travel warning under
the new law Friday and doubled down with a
four-page statement that makes it clear that
Americans travel to North Korea at their own
peril.
The State Department strongly urges U.S.
citizens to avoid all travel to North Korea, the
warning states, before going on to list all the
ways it is possible to get into trouble, including
"showing disrespect" to the country's current or
former leaders, taking unauthorized photographs
and shopping at stores not designated for
foreigners.
"It was a little bit more specific and a little bit
more blunt in some ways," said State
Department spokesman John Kirby. "I think
that's reflective of the increased tensions that
we're seeing there on the peninsula and certainly
the way, the manner in which the regime has
acted out against foreigners on travel to North
Korea."
In recent months, a series of nuclear and missile
tests by North Korea, along with belligerent
rhetoric from its young leader Kim Jong-un, have
raised tensions on the Korea Peninsula.
Pyongyang has said the blame lies with the U.S.
and South Korea. The two countries recently
conducted their largest-ever joint military
exercises, which partly involve targeting North
Korean leadership.
At least 14 U.S. citizens have been detained in
North Korea in the last decade, including people
traveling on their own and visitors in the country
as part of a group tour. In January, Otto
Warmbier, a 21-year-old student at the
University of Virginia, became the most recent
when he was arrested during a backpacking tour
for allegedly stealing a propaganda sign. He
reportedly has been sentenced to 15 years' hard
labor.
Because the U.S. does not have formal
diplomatic relations with North Korea, the State
Department has no way of providing consular
help to travelers in distress and works through
the Swedish Embassy.
The new State Department warning makes clear
that if Americans do enter the country against
the agency's advice, they should "have no
expectation of privacy." All electronic and
multimedia devices, including USB drives, CDs,
DVDs, phones and tablets are subject to search,
the department said.
If North Korea authorities allow you to keep your
mobile phone while in the country, it will simply
enable them "to monitor your calls," the State
Department said.