U.S. Reissues Most Severe 'Do Not Travel' Warning

The United States Department of State periodically reviews its standing travel warnings in its list of travel advisories. This week, that review led to the department reissuing one of its most severe travel warnings.

The United States has an extensive "Travel Advisories" database that provides citizens with information about the potential dangers of traveling to various overseas countries. Those "travel warnings" are split into four categories – level 1 through level 4.

A Level 1 travel advisory means "Exercise Normal Precautions." This level of advisory is issued for many common tourist locations to remind travelers to exercise caution even when there is no clear or explicit threat.

A Level 2 travel advisory, meanwhile, warns travelers to "Exercise Increased Caution." This advisory typically applies to locations where there is not an explicit threat or imminent danger, but crime is prevalent, there is civil unrest, or the country is often targeted with terrorist plots.

A Level 3 travel advisory starts to get a little more serious. This threat warns travelers to "Reconsider Travel" to countries that it deems inherently dangerous for a number of reasons, such as heightened risks of crime, civil unrest, or terrorism.

A Level 4 travel advisory is the most severe and serious, warning travelers simply to "Do Not Travel" to that location. These warnings are typically reserved for countries involved in active armed conflicts or countries that are enemies of the United States or have little to no diplomatic relationship with the United States.

This week, the state department reaffirmed one of those Level 4 travel advisories, reminding travelers not to travel to North Korea "for any reason."

"Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals. Do not travel to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for any reason," the travel advisory states.

The advisory warns that United States passports cannot be used to travel to, in, or through North Korea unless the traveler gains a special validation, which are granted "only in very limited circumstances."

Even in those cases, the United States warns that it cannot provide assistance to those traveling to North Korea since it doesn't have diplomatic relations with the country.

"Because the U.S. government does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, it cannot provide direct help to U.S. citizens in North Korea in emergencies. Sweden serves as the U.S. protecting power in North Korea through its Embassy in Pyongyang and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens. Additionally, the North Korean government has often delayed or denied Swedish officials access to U.S. citizens who are detained," the advisory states.

Needless to say, visiting North Korea should not be in any American's upcoming travel plans.