Letter Sent to the U.S. State Department Regarding Travel Restrictions to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
August 2, 2024
Posted in: News • Press Releases
Daniel J. Kritenbrink
Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
August 2, 2024
Dear Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:
This letter is for purposes of continuing our dialogue concerning the current travel ban restricting U.S. citizens from traveling freely to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have previously corresponded on this topic via letters dated September 6, 2022, and July 25, 2023, and in follow-up discussions with members of the State Department.
Since our first letter in 2021, our coalition has only grown. We write on behalf of a robust community of leaders from humanitarian aid, cultural, activist, legal advocacy, and civil society organizations. In light of the fact that the travel ban will be considered for renewal in the coming months, we wish to reiterate what we believe are deeply compelling reasons why the State Department should end the travel ban at this time, or at a minimum make modifications to allow for bona fide humanitarian and people-to-people engagement. With this letter, we also point out additional considerations that we urge the State Department to take into account for purposes of ending or modifying the existing travel ban. To the extent that the ban is based on concerns that U.S. citizens will be unlawfully detained, mistreated, or held hostage, we have offered information (see our July 25, 2023 letter) that strongly suggests this risk to be low, especially in comparison to other countries where the use of a U.S. passport for travel is not restricted. Suffice it to say that of the thousands of U.S. citizens (including dual U.S.-Korean citizens) who have traveled to or resided in the DPRK prior to the travel ban being instituted in 2017, only 20 were detained by or deported from North Korea.
Our recommendations are as follows:
I. The SVP policy should reflect the most recent updates to OFAC regulations.
On February 16, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published and effective that date, amendments to the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (NKSR) found at 31 C.F.R. Part 510. See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/16/2024-03255/north-korea-sanctions-regulations.
The overall effect of the changes was to further expand the ability of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to engage in humanitarian activities vis-à-vis North Korea, by increasing the scope of activities now subject to a general license. For example, OFAC reduced the scope of the limitation related to activities involving a “partnership [with the North Korean government].” This was a welcome and necessary change that acknowledged the practical necessity of involving certain North Korean governmental institutions in engaging in sanctions-permitted humanitarian transactions.
In addition, the amendments expanded the permissible scope of items not subject to U.S. jurisdiction that can be provided by NGOs. Also of particular note, OFAC expanded the scope of authorized humanitarian activities to include:
- activities “to support disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs and peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and conflict resolution programs”
- educational initiatives at or below the secondary school level
- activities to support environmental and natural resource protection
- non-commercial development projects directly benefiting civilians, including those related to health, food security, and water and sanitation
- U.S. news reporting organizations and their employees to engage in certain journalistic activities in North Korea (which previously required specific licenses)
While OFAC noted that a strict travel permission program remains in place for those using U.S. passports, the new amendments evince broadening support for NGO activity in North Korea, which, in most cases, necessitates traveling to North Korea to responsibly plan, implement and monitor these authorized activities. We believe it is in the interest of the U.S. government that U.S. citizens, who are otherwise delivering or arranging the delivery of authorized humanitarian aid to North Korea, be able to travel and implement the necessary control and monitoring of the delivered aid for its intended purpose.
Therefore, we urge the State Department, at the very least, to adopt explicit modifications to the travel ban, including visibly articulating policies that would permit individuals undertaking authorized activities under the North Korea Sanctions Regulations to be allowed to travel to implement those activities. As we previously noted, this should include activities authorized under section 510.512, as well as other activities that are authorized under or exempt from OFAC’s North Korea Sanctions Regulations (e.g., as discussed below, activities relating to the exchange of “information or informational materials” is an exemption from the regulations and is grounded in First Amendment protections reflected in a longstanding statute that removes OFAC’s regulatory authority in this area). We urge the Department to implement this policy by making clear that lawful activity under the NKSR is automatically deemed to be “justified by compelling humanitarian considerations” for the purpose of the special validation passport (SVP) authorization standard. The regulatory policies of agencies within the U.S. government should be aligned with each other, otherwise the travel ban policy risks undermining the permissions provided under the sanctions themselves.
Beyond this, we continue to urge the Department to amend its special validation passport (SVP) policy for the DPRK to explicitly allow travel for the purpose of constitutionally protected speech and, in particular, for the purpose of democracy-building, peace advocacy activities, and people-to-people initiatives. In light of the strong constitutional protection associated with the right to travel, we believe travel that would include First Amendment free speech in aid of such initiatives is compelling. Indeed, these types of OFAC-authorized activities are at their core exercises of free speech for the benefit of the civilian population. We believe that now is the time to consider appropriate amendments to the SVP policy to make it a more coherent part of the overall U.S. regulatory structure for the DPRK, and also more fully reflective of U.S. laws and values.
II. SVP policy should be updated to explicitly allow family reunions.
Finally, we ask that the State Department take an additional step to more explicitly incorporate a family reunion component into the SVP program, making clear that those wishing to travel to North Korea to engage in a family reunion would be eligible for SVP authorization. While we were pleased to note the update to the FAQ section in 2023 specifying that family visits would be considered potential grounds for receiving an SVP, we would like to see stronger support for family member reunions under humanitarian considerations, including those arranged by long-standing non-governmental and humanitarian organizations that have historically facilitated family reunions, and reunions for second- and third-generation Korean American family members.
In our July 2023 letter, we noted that an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans have family members in the DPRK whom they have not seen or heard from in decades. While the South Korean and North Korean governments have facilitated 21 in-person reunions and 7 video reunions since they began implementing family reunions in 1985, Korean Americans have been left out of this process entirely. Days before his election, President Biden pledged “to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.” Instead, he has renewed the State Department’s travel ban on North Korea every year since he has been in office, prolonging one of the most restrictive policies from the Trump administration.
We speak on behalf of the majority of the U.S. public that supports peace and engagement. Activists have taken to directly petitioning for the lifting of the DPRK travel ban through postcard mailing efforts and online signature petitions. As of today’s date, the petition calling for lifting the travel ban has over 1,400 signatures from individuals across the United States. With Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, recently calling the issue of reuniting Korean Americans with their families in North Korea a matter of “utmost urgency,” the Biden administration should facilitate family reunions as quickly as possible, as time is running out, especially for elderly Korean Americans. We again note that the regulations administered by OFAC contain an exemption for travel and personal communications which is consistent with a policy of more routinely issuing SVPs for family reunion travel.
Again, we thank you for your consideration of our recommendations for ending or modifying substantially the travel ban directed at U.S. citizens who wish to pursue bona fide humanitarian and people-to-people activities in North Korea, fully consistent with U.S. economic sanctions.
Furthermore, we would welcome the opportunity for a meeting to discuss this important topic for NGOs and Korean Americans, and for those of us who are identified below. We would be happy to meet anytime between August 19 and August 23 to discuss or review these demands.
Sincerely,
Individual Signatories
Christine Ahn, Founder and Co-Director, Women Cross DMZ
Mickey Bergman, on behalf of Governor Bill Richardson Center for Global Engagement
Cathi Choi, Co-Director, Women Cross DMZ & Co-Coordinator, Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
Jennifer Deibert, DPRK Program Director, American Friends Service Committee
Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist and social activist
Rick Downes, President, Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs
Joy Lee Powell Gebhard, Divided Family Member
Austin Headrick, Asia Regional Advocacy Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee
Suzy Kim, Amnesty International USA (South) Korea Country Specialist
Dan Leaf, Lt. General of U.S. Air Force, former Deputy Commander of Pacific Command
Lora Lumpe, CEO, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Orin O’Brien, Double Bass, New York Philharmonic (retired)
Kee B. Park, MD. Lecturer, Harvard Medical School
Jack Rendler, Amnesty International USA Country Specialist for North Korea & Founding Member, International Campaign to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea
Chahee Stanfield, Founder and Executive Director, National Coalition for Divided Families
Gloria Steinem, author and activist
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel and US Diplomat (retired), Veterans for Peace
Joy Yoon, Co-Founder of IGNIS Community
Organizational Signatories
American Friends Service Committee
National Association of Korean Americans
Korea Peace Now
Korean American Peace and Education Fund
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
The United Methodist Church, Church & Society
The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries
The Peace Committee, the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church
Veterans for Peace
Women Cross DMZ
CC:
Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State
Julie Turner, Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Kin Moy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau
Seth Bailey, Director for the Office of Korean and Mongolian Affairs
Karen Castro, Desk Officer – DPRK Unit