Local Laws

CRIMINAL PENALTIES:  The Department of State strongly recommends against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea.  The North Korean system punishes even seemingly-minor transgressions severely, and foreigners may not receive due process when they knowingly or unknowingly violating DPRK laws. The Department of State has received reports of DPRK authorities detaining U.S. citizens without charges and not allowing them to depart the country.  Foreign visitors to North Korea may be arrested, detained, or expelled for activities that would not be considered criminal outside North Korea, including involvement in unsanctioned religious and/or political activities (whether those activities took place inside or outside North Korea), unauthorized travel, or unauthorized interaction with the local population.

If you do something considered illegal in North Korea, you may be subject to the North Korean judicial system, which is an instrument of state power and not an independent branch of government.  The DPRK has held U.S. citizens accountable for the costs associated with incarceration in DPRK detention facilities and medical assistance during detention.  Protections guaranteed under the U.S. legal system do not apply, and possession of a U.S. passport does not confer special status.  Your local host/liaison may be able to provide useful guidance, but do not assume your host or tour operator will be able or willing to provide assistance to you if you are arrested or detained by North Korean authorities, or that any information you share with them will not be turned over to North Korean authorities.

North Korean security personnel may regard as espionage unauthorized or unescorted travel inside North Korea and unauthorized attempts to speak directly with North Korean citizens.  North Korean authorities may fine or arrest you for exchanging currency with an unauthorized vendor, for taking unauthorized photographs, or for shopping at stores not designated for foreigners.  It is a criminal act in North Korea to show disrespect to the country's current and former leaders – Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Il Sung.  A near-religious cult surrounds treatment of these individuals, and acts that would be deemed unexceptional elsewhere in the world – e.g., placing in the garbage newspapers bearing their photographs – may be deemed disrespectful.

Although North Korea has granted press visas for cultural or sporting events or visits of foreign leaders, officials watch closely to prevent journalists from unauthorized conversations with North Koreans or questioning the policies, actions, or public statements of North Korea’s leadership.  North Korea has confiscated objectionable material from foreign journalists.  Journalists who engaged in activities that challenged the regime have been deported, arrested, or detained to face criminal charges.  For additional information on the lack of freedom of information in North Korea, see the Department of State’s Human Rights Report for North Korea.

North Korean government security personnel closely monitor the activities and conversations of foreigners in North Korea.  Never bring or handle any material, printed or digital (including popular literature on e-book readers), that could be interpreted as critical of, or hostile to, the country or its leadership.  Hotel rooms, telephones, and fax machines may be monitored, and personal possessions in hotel rooms may be searched.  Do not take pictures without explicit authorization.  North Korean government authorities may view taking unauthorized pictures as espionage, confiscate cameras and film, and/or detain the photographer.

Engaging in sexual conduct with minors or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States and may be prosecutable in North Korea. Please see additional information on Criminal Penalties.

Arrest notifications in host country: Please see “Consular Access” below under “Local Laws and Special Circumstances.”

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:  North Korea is one of the world’s most reclusive countries.  North Korea limits trade and transportation links with other countries and tightly restricts the circumstances under which foreigners may enter the country and interact with local citizens.  Telephone, facsimile, and Internet access are unavailable in many areas of the country, and foreigners can expect North Korean officials will monitor their communications.

North Korea has experienced famine, flooding, fuel and electricity shortages, and outbreaks of disease.  Many countries, including the United States, have contributed to international relief efforts to assist the people of North Korea.  North Korea is subject to multilateral restrictions and sanctions, including those contained in United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094.  In addition, the United States and other countries have adopted national sanctions or other measures designed to curb North Korea’s provocative and destabilizing actions and policies, including its nuclear weapons and missile programs and proliferation activities. 

Tourism:  In the past, North Korea has detained U.S. citizens who were part of organized tours.  Efforts by private tour operators to prevent or resolve past detentions of U.S. citizens in the DPRK have not succeeded in gaining their release.  Do not assume that joining a group tour or use of a tour guide will prevent your arrest or detention by North Korean authorities.

As employees of North Korea, DPRK tour guides operate under tight discipline and are closely monitored.  Tour guides are subject to debriefings after contact with each group of foreigners and are held responsible for any “misbehavior” of foreign tourists assigned to them.

Foreign tourism provides a source of foreign currency to the DPRK regime. North Korean efforts to expand tourism have focused primarily on group tours from China. The South Korean government suspended tours originating from South Korea to the Mount Kumgang tourist area after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a South Korean tourist near Mount Kumgang in July 2008.  North Korean authorities suspended tours to the city of Kaesong in December 2008.  

Consular Access: The United States does not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea.  The U.S. government therefore has no means to provide normal consular services to U.S. citizens in North Korea.  On September 20, 1995, the U.S. government signed a consular protecting power agreement with the Government of Sweden.  This agreement allows the Embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang to provide basic consular protective services to U.S. citizens who are ill, injured, arrested, or who die while in North Korea.

If you require emergency services, you should inform your North Korean escorts and the Embassy of Sweden.  Please see the section above on "Information for Victims of Crime."  You are encouraged to carry photocopies of your passport data and photo pages with you at all times so that you have evidence of your U.S. citizenship readily available.  The U.S.-DPRK Interim Consular Agreement provides that North Korea will notify the Embassy of Sweden within four days of an arrest or detention of a U.S. citizen and will allow consular visits by the Swedish Embassy within two days after a request is made.  In reality, however, the DPRK government routinely delays or denies consular access. To ensure that the United States is aware of your circumstances, request that the police and prison officials notify the Embassy of Sweden as soon as you are arrested or detained in North Korea.

Customs Regulations: North Korean authorities may seize documents, literature, audio and video files, computer equipment, DVDs, USB drives and other digital media, and letters deemed by North Korean officials to be intended for religious proselytizing or subversive activities.  If you carry religious materials into North Korea, you can be detained, fined, imprisoned, or expelled.  It is advisable to contact the DPRK Mission to the United Nations or a DPRK embassy or consulate in a third country for specific information regarding customs requirements.  Please see our information on customs regulations.

Dual Nationality: North Korea does not recognize dual nationality.  If you are of Korean heritage – even if you are a U.S. citizen – you may be subject to military obligations and taxes on foreign source income.  Please see our information on dual nationality.  

U.S. Government Economic Sanctions Against North Korea:  Goods of North Korean origin may not be imported into the United States either directly or indirectly without prior notification to and approval of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  Most exports to North Korea are subject to licensing by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.  U.S. travel service providers are allowed to organize group travel to North Korea.  Commercial U.S. ships and aircraft carrying U.S. goods are allowed to call at North Korean ports with prior clearance, but U.S. persons are prohibited from “owning, leasing, operating, or insuring any vessel flagged by North Korea.

The United States maintains various additional sanctions on North Korea due to its human rights record, nuclear weapons programs, weapons proliferation activities, and other provocative actions.  Exports of military and sensitive dual-use items are prohibited, as are most types of U.S. economic assistance.  The United States also abides by multilateral restrictions and sanctions with respect to North Korea, including those contained in United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, which were adopted in response to North Korea’s nuclear tests and rocket launches.  For additional information, see the websites of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.