DPRK says door remains 'open' for US tourists

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The DPRK says its doors are wide open for American tourists, despite US officials' move to ban its citizens from traveling to the country.

A spokesman for the DPRK's foreign ministry told the KCNA news agency on Friday that foreign tourists had no reason to fear for their safety in the country, welcoming all and any US citizens who may want to visit.

A few Americans have faced "due punishments in accordance with the laws of the DPRK" for committing crimes against the state, he added.

The US prohibition, which comes into effect September 1, was introduced after officials said the "serious risk" of arrest by Pyongyang authorities during tourist travel presented an "imminent danger to the physical safety" of its nationals.

File photo of Otto Warmbier /KCNA Photo

The move was triggered by the death of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years' hard labor in the DPRK for trying to steal a propaganda poster during a tourist visit but was released in a mysterious coma in June and died soon afterwards.

Washington's State Department has declared US passports invalid for travel to, in or through the DPRK.

(With inputs from AFP)

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