People with a past history of travel to North Korea may now find it more difficult to travel to the US.
Foreign nationals who have visited the hermit kingdom since March 2011 will no longer be able to use the United States’ Visa Waiver Program.
They would now have to apply for a separate visa in person at a US embassy.
The new policy from the US Department of Homeland Security now groups North Korea with other nations like Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria.
It applies to all non-governmental travel to North Korea.
While China is by far the largest source market for North Korea visits, the policy will likely impact South Korea most of all as a visa waiver program country.
According to official data, about 37,000 South Koreans have visited the North since March 2011.
US citizens have been forbidden from travel to North Korean since 2017 after an American student died shortly after being released from detention in Pyongyang.
