Otto Frederick Warmbier is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang on March 16, 2016. Kyodo \/ Reuters <\/p>\n
\"Our doors are always open for all Americans who visit our country out of good will and wish to see our reality,\" the spokesman said. <\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department said earlier this week the ban would take effect on Sept. 1, although some, including journalists and humanitarian workers, may apply for exceptions. <\/p>\n
The ban will make reclusive North Korea the only country to which U.S. citizens are banned from traveling. <\/p>\n
It follows the <\/p>\n
Warmbier was in a coma when he was released by the North on humanitarian grounds and circumstances of his death remain unclear. <\/p>\n
KCNA did not name Warmbier in Friday's report but said the North had delivered \"just punishment\" to some U.S. citizens who had carried out acts against the regime. <\/p>\n
North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary in addition to a Canadian pastor and three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. <\/p>\n
\"There is no country in the world that would let foreigners who commit this sort of crime be,\" the spokesman said. \"Ruling criminals by the law is exercising our confident right as a sovereign state.\" <\/p>\n
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves at an undisclosed location in a picture released by the government on March 1. KCNA via KNS \/ AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
The report said the ban reflects Washington's view of Pyongyang as an enemy and reiterated that President Donald Trump's administration should abandon its hostile policies towards the North. <\/p>\n
Republican U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, who introduced the bill to ban Americans from traveling to North Korea this year, has said hundreds of Americans are among the roughly 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who visit the North each year. <\/p>\n
Aside from the threat of incarceration, North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps Trump's most serious security challenge. <\/p>\n
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North Korea Hits Out at US Travel Ban - NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Otto Frederick Warmbier is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang on March 16, 2016. Kyodo \/ Reuters \"Our doors are always open for all Americans who visit our country out of good will and wish to see our reality,\" the spokesman said. The U.S. Continue reading