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Should the U.S ban tourism to North Korea?

Should the U.S. ban tourism to North Korea

  • Yes

    Votes: 15 38.5%

  • No

    Votes: 24 61.5%
  • Total voters
    39
Bucky

Bucky

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I do not understand why U.S citizens are still traveling to North Korea. It is imo selfish and hurting the citizens of North Korea. What's the fascination? Is is amusing to look at the starving people? Is this some form of entertainment like watching animals in a zoo?

Every time some idiot citizens gets captured it is costing the U.S government a lot of money and time to get those clowns back. By "negotiating" we risk replenishing the North Korean government.

Playing right in the hands of Kim Jong-un. Absolutely ridiculous......

Do they not realize they can go to a work prison camp for 15+ years for a completely bogus crime?
 
Advice to U.S citizens traveling abroad: Respect other countries cultures and laws. You are entering a different country! The laws are different. If you do not like the laws and punishments, maybe you shouldn't go to that country.... :confused:
 
Bucky said:
I do not understand why U.S citizens are still traveling to North Korea. It is imo selfish and hurting the citizens of North Korea. What's the fascination? Is is amusing to look at the starving people? Is this some form of entertainment like watching animals in a zoo?

Every time some idiot citizens gets captured it is costing the U.S government a lot of money and time to get those clowns back. By "negotiating" we risk replenishing the North Korean government.

Playing right in the hands of Kim Jong-un. Absolutely ridiculous......

Do they not realize they can go to a work prison camp for 15+ years for a completely bogus crime?
Click to expand...

Yes. For so many reasons, but here are a few:

1. It puts hard currency into the hands of the most atrocious dictatorship in human history.
2. It stiffens the group that the oppressors have over the oppressed.
3. It risks our entire approach to North Korea by constantly forcing us to be on guard to ransom our citizens.
4. It gives North Korea an unwarranted propaganda boost and affords it opportunities to increase its stature.
 
Technically we can, and it would end up operating much like the older travel bans to Cuba.

The question then becomes effectiveness. More often than otherwise those that go to North Korea do so by going through China as usually the arrangements to visit North Korea are handled via a handful of Chinese tour companies.

We can set the ban and have the US State Department handle the fallout, but I suspect there will be dozens of workarounds to still travel there without consequence. Which is exactly what happened to the Cuban travel bans. If you knew the right people, and had the right reasons to go to Cuba you still could.

I ended up voting no in the poll.

Best we can do is what we already do and issue warning after warning not to go. If someone does it is on them, as well as any consequences from going.
 
Other - Define Tourism
There are people who try to do good non-profit work in these countries as well.
There are also journalists (mainstream, bloggers, etc) who bring back information on the state of these countries.
I wouldn't personally travel to N Korea, Egypt, Russia, or several other countries right now. But that's just me.
 
Strongly discourage? Yes. Ban? No. when I am outside the US the US should have no jurisdiction over me.
 
It causes us nothing but grief and whenever they "detain" and jail our citizens they get to use them as bargaining chips.

Why give them that opportunity?
 
BrewerBob said:
Strongly discourage? Yes. Ban? No. when I am outside the US the US should have no jurisdiction over me.
Click to expand...

It is amazing how often that concept is and then is not applied depending on subject. (At the total risk of derailing the conversation.)
 
Yes, ban people from going there or make it clear to them that if they go there, that they know that they are at risk of harsh penalties for things no reasonable person would view as crimes. They must also know that if they get in trouble there they are on their own as the US is unable to effectively help them there.
 
No.

I absolutely disagree with NK tourism, but I don't think people should be forbidden to travel there.

Everyone is highly advised not to. That should be enough, and that is the furthest the government should go.

As for putting hard currency in the hands of a disgusting dictator... yes it is true, and it is wrong, but again, it should be a matter of personal choice rather than government's constraint.
 
The United States of America should not try to limit the freedom of movement of its own citizens. We are not North Korea - or Cuba, or the old USSR.
 
It's peoples choice to travel to a country. A country does not own its citizens unlike North Korea. North Korea stops people from going to the US so the US follows North Korea's example?
 
I don't think Uncle Sam should forbid any citizen to travel anywhere. It's our right to go or not. Now, that said, Uncle Sam should also say "Do it at your own risk" and refuse to help anyone who gets in trouble there.
 
tres borrachos said:
I don't think Uncle Sam should forbid any citizen to travel anywhere. It's our right to go or not. Now, that said, Uncle Sam should also say "Do it at your own risk" and refuse to help anyone who gets in trouble there.
Click to expand...

Ditto. You saved me some typing. Thanks.
 
Bucky said:
I do not understand why U.S citizens are still traveling to North Korea. It is imo selfish and hurting the citizens of North Korea. What's the fascination? Is is amusing to look at the starving people? Is this some form of entertainment like watching animals in a zoo?

Every time some idiot citizens gets captured it is costing the U.S government a lot of money and time to get those clowns back. By "negotiating" we risk replenishing the North Korean government.

Playing right in the hands of Kim Jong-un. Absolutely ridiculous......

Do they not realize they can go to a work prison camp for 15+ years for a completely bogus crime?
Click to expand...

The government should warn every citizen from visiting such countries. Whether there should be travel restrictions is a question of sanctions regimes.
 
No, rather we should ban kim jong un and all of his family and political party off the face of the earth..
 
Bucky said:
I do not understand why U.S citizens are still traveling to North Korea. It is imo selfish and hurting the citizens of North Korea. What's the fascination? Is is amusing to look at the starving people? Is this some form of entertainment like watching animals in a zoo?

Every time some idiot citizens gets captured it is costing the U.S government a lot of money and time to get those clowns back. By "negotiating" we risk replenishing the North Korean government.

Playing right in the hands of Kim Jong-un. Absolutely ridiculous......

Do they not realize they can go to a work prison camp for 15+ years for a completely bogus crime?
Click to expand...

no but if your concerned about how much money is spent getting them back, since like all others this warmbier person will be released after awhile, then you should stop your party from constantly demanding that "we do something" to get them back, this time it wasn't more than 1 hour after the news broke that the republicans were demanding "something" be done.

plenty of americans get arrested in other countries, and many times they are arrested for laws that we dont have in america, or are given punishments much more severe than if they broke the same law back home, but nobody sends bill clinton and dennis rodman to get them back..

... in fact they barely make the news
 
tres borrachos said:
I don't think Uncle Sam should forbid any citizen to travel anywhere. It's our right to go or not. Now, that said, Uncle Sam should also say "Do it at your own risk" and refuse to help anyone who gets in trouble there.
Click to expand...
This. Make it clear that you're an idiot if you go, but if you insist and something happens, you are 100% on your own.
 
Ntharotep said:
Other - Define Tourism
There are people who try to do good non-profit work in these countries as well.
There are also journalists (mainstream, bloggers, etc) who bring back information on the state of these countries.
I wouldn't personally travel to N Korea, Egypt, Russia, or several other countries right now. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

If they are not there on government business then they shouldn't be there period. I don't give a rats ass if they are journalists, missionaries, aid workers or what ever. If you go to a country like North Korea then you are begging to be trumped up on phony charges and stuck in prison for a long time.
 
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BrewerBob said:
Strongly discourage? Yes. Ban? No. when I am outside the US the US should have no jurisdiction over me.
Click to expand...

If you carry a US Passport they do. After all, many times you're able to go abroad because you're an American. The US and foreign governments worked out visa deals to allow you to enter in most cases. So yes, the US should have some jurisdiction over those who would use a US passport to go abroad. There are also crimes against humanity like sex trafficking and child pornography/prostitution which I believe are universally illegal for Americans to engage in (and for good reason).

I think the US should ban travel to North Korea. Going there is a national security risk for the US and it's no secret that North Korea purposefully imprisons American's and other westerners to use as bargaining chips. The US and North Korea don't have diplomatic ties and North Korea has sanctions against it. There is no rational reason for an American to go to North Korea and doing so only harms the US via the individuals imprisonment and use as a bargaining chip.
 
Sherman123 said:
Yes. For so many reasons, but here are a few:

1. It puts hard currency into the hands of the most atrocious dictatorship in human history.
2. It stiffens the group that the oppressors have over the oppressed.
3. It risks our entire approach to North Korea by constantly forcing us to be on guard to ransom our citizens.
4. It gives North Korea an unwarranted propaganda boost and affords it opportunities to increase its stature.
Click to expand...

Are you serious? Have you never heard of Hitler (needs no explanation), Stalin (who killed millions if Ukrainian's in a deliberate famine - for starters), Pol Pot (who killed, neglected or worked to death anywhere from 1/8 to 3/8 of his entire population)?

Kim what's his guts is horrible...but he (so far) does not remotely compare to the above three.
 
No.

Assuming they are not defecting or giving classified information...it is none of the government's business if one of it's citizens wants to go to North Korea.

Besides, North Koreans are virtually cut off from the outside world. The more information from tourists they get, the quicker they realize how screwed they are being and the quicker they rise up and overthrow the Fat One.

You could not pay me to go there (I don't want to end up in jail for talking to the wrong person), but I admire those that do whose intentions are good.
 
DA60 said:
No.

Assuming they are not defecting or giving classified information...it is none of the government's business if one of it's citizens wants to go to North Korea.

Besides, North Koreans are virtually cut off from the outside world. The more information from tourists they get, the quicker they realize how screwed they are being and the quicker they rise up and overthrow the Fat One.

You could not pay me to go there (I don't want to end up in jail for talking to the wrong person), but I admire those that do whose intentions are good.
Click to expand...

Actually it is, North Korea is a hostile nation with human rights violations that will imprison and jail westerner's without due process or fair trial and use them as bargaining chips when it comes to international relations. It's a harm to the US and a liability the US shouldn't have to take on by allowing Americans to go to North Korea.

The only real compromise would be for individuals to accept what they're getting into and expect no US help when they wind up in prison or sentenced to death while being there.
 
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