Five Years Under the Travel Ban
It was June of 2017. Our family was living on the Foreign Diplomatic Compound in Pyongyang, North Korea as we treated children with developmental disabilities at the Pyongyang Medical School Hospital. We had just moved there in December 2016.
For four years, we had been living on an isolated compound on the west side of town. We had no neighbors to interact with. No market we could walk to. Little freedom to move about freely. In fact, we had to be escorted everywhere we went. But despite this, our presence there to treat and save the lives of children with disabilities was worth it. We were witnessing dramatic transformations in the lives of our patients and changing perspectives from our colleagues.
And then finally after many years of negotiations, we were granted permission to move to the Foreign Diplomatic Compound in Pyongyang. As far as we know, we were the first and only U.S. citizens ever granted this privilege. On the compound, we could interact freely with the foreign community, walk to nearby stores and restaurants, and have immediate access to medical care. It was a huge improvement as we had sacrificed so much to live and work inside the country.
Foreign Diplomatic Compound in Munsu Dong, Pyongyang
But then one day we were told shocking news. Otto Warmbier, the college student who had been detained, was in critical condition. After being imprisoned for about one year, his poor physical condition mandated that he be medically evacuated out of the country and immediately return to the U.S. Unfortunately, after only five days home in America, Otto passed away.
When we heard this, we immediately knew that there would be serious repercussions to this tragic event. Yet, we would have never imagined what was to follow.
Our family briefly visited China in July of 2017. A meeting with a U.S. Consulate representative warned us that the U.S. State Department was preparing to issue a Geographic Travel Restriction (GTR). It was to be implemented starting September 1, 2017. The GTR banned U.S. citizens from traveling to and from North Korea. Violators were subject to have their U.S. passports confiscated.
As we returned home to our apartment on the Foreign Diplomatic Compound, so many thoughts went through our head. Our medical work was just now becoming fruitful in the country. A specialty hospital for children with developmental disabilities was nearing completion. Positive changes had been made in local policy to advocate for individuals with disabilities. Doctors in the hospital were now passionate to treat children with various disabling conditions, and we were seeing improvements in our patients on a daily basis.
North Korean Doctor Treating a Child with Cerebral Palsy in Pyongyang
But now due to the GTR, we only had one month in country left. According to the U.S. State Department, we were required to leave North Korea by the end of August. It would be impossible to properly sustain our medical work without being able to live or work inside the country. This project, which had been on-going since 2013 and which had the potential of saving thousands of children with disabilities, was coming to a stand-still.
We had no choice. We did what we could for one month, and then we packed up our most critical belongings and moved out of the country. Other belongings were left in our apartment thinking that we would return shortly. Never would we have guessed that the travel ban would last for over five years.
In 2017, approximately 200 other U.S. citizens had also been living in North Korea. Most of them were working on humanitarian and development projects. They, too, had to leave country and abandon decades of life-changing work- work that was making a real difference in the lives of everyday people in North Korea and even shifting people’s worldviews.
Today, September 1st, marks the fifth anniversary of the GTR. On August 23rd, the U.S. State Department once again renewed the travel ban for one more year. It is unknown if or when the GTR will ever be lifted.
Otto Warmbier’s death was extremely tragic. It should have never happened. But at the same time, forcing U.S. citizens to leave significant projects and depart the country is causing an even greater tragedy. Now it’s not just one life that has been lost but countless others.
Lifting the travel ban is not a simple thing. The U.S. State Department has to weigh the impact of Otto’s death with the need for humanitarian assistance, reuniting divided Korean-American families, and the right for all U.S. citizens to travel abroad.
But one thing is clear. If we continue to operate from a place of distrust and tension, the viscous cycle of conflict between our countries will persist. And the only way out of this cycle is to start taking small steps towards engagement. Steps such as lifting the travel ban.