North Korea Travel Banned Due To Fears Of Arrests, Long-term Detentions

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. officials said the Trump administration will ban travel to North Korea after university student Otto Warmbier fell into a coma in a North Korean prison and later died.

The officials said Friday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson planned to implement a "geographical travel restriction" for North Korea, which would make the use of U.S. passports to enter the country illegal.

The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the decision before it is announced and spoke on condition of anonymity. (For more White House news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: US Citizens Likely Won't Be Able To Visit North Korea Much Longer

A "special validation passport" will be required for all Americans who want to travel to North Korea once the ban goes into effect, the State Department said. Those validations may be granted for certain limited humanitarian or other purposes, agency spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. All other travel by Americans "to, through and in" North Korea will be prohibited.

The State Department plans to publish a notice of Tillerson's decision in the Federal Register next week, Nauert said. The travel ban will become effective 30 days later.

The ban is being put in place due to "mounting concerns" about "the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement," Nauert said.

Photo credit: Wong Maye-E/Associated Press