Originally Posted by cbn42

I don't think they can legally ban it without Congressional authorization. They have strongly warned against it, and have set up an approval process for people who want to go for specific reasons. But if a US citizen goes to North Korea without permission, the government can't really do much. The website mentions the possibility of prosecution under vague laws like "misuse of passport" but I doubt that would hold up and seems to be more of a scare tactic.