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After Warmbier's death, US weighs travel ban on North Korea

WASHINGTON, D.C. — WASHINGTON (AP) — The

Trump

administration is considering banning travel by U.S. citizens to

North
Korea

, officials said Tuesday, as outrage grew over the death of American student Otto Warmbier and President Donald

Trump

declared it a "total disgrace."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has the authority to cut off travel to

North
Korea

with the stroke of the pen, has been weighing such a move since late April, when American teacher Tony Kim was detained in Pyongyang, a senior State Department official said. No ban is imminent, but deliberations gained new urgency after Warmbier's death, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal diplomatic discussions.

From Capitol Hill to the White House, pressure mounted for a tough U.S. response, even as U.S. diplomats sought to protect others Americans from facing a similar fate. Three other U.S. citizens, including Kim, are still being held in

North
Korea

.

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"It's a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never ever be allowed to happen,"

Trump

said in the Oval Office.

Suggesting former President Barack Obama bears some blame,

Trump

said "the result would have been a lot different" had Warmbier been brought home sooner. Obama's office had no reaction, but his former aides have said he worked tirelessly to try to get Warmbier and other Americans released from

North
Korea

.

Warmbier, 22, died Monday in his home state of Ohio, his family said, just days after being released in a coma by

North
Korea

. The former University of Virginia student had been visiting

North
Korea

on a tour group when he was detained, sentenced to 15 years hard labor for subversion, and held for more than 17 months. The circumstances of his coma and death remain unclear.

Barring Americans from stepping foot in

North
Korea

would mark the latest U.S. step to isolate the furtive, nuclear-armed nation, and protect U.S. citizens who may be allured by the prospect of traveling there. Nearly all Americans who have gone to

North
Korea

have left without incident. But some have been seized and given draconian sentences for seemingly minor offenses.

The U.S. government strongly warns Americans against traveling to

North
Korea

, but doesn't prohibit it, despite other sanctions targeting the country. It's unclear exactly how many Americans go to

North
Korea

every year. Those who typically do travel from China, where tour groups market trips to adventure-seekers.

Some of those companies — including China-based Young Pioneer Tours, which took Warmbier to Pyongyang — have now stopped taking Americans. Other travel companies say they're considering a similar restriction.

The U.S. and

North
Korea

have no diplomatic relations. The U.S. has been pressing Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons development and urging China and other countries to starve the

North

of funding for the program. But on Tuesday,

Trump

suggested that strategy had failed.

"While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with

North
Korea

, it has not worked out,"

Trump

wrote on Twitter. "At least I know China tried!"

In Congress, Democrats and Republicans found rare bipartisan consensus in denouncing the

North

. Several senators said they were considering a travel ban. In the House, lawmakers lined up behind legislation from Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican.

Under their proposal, the Treasury Department would be ordered to prohibit all financial transactions related to travel to

North
Korea

by Americans, unless specifically authorized by a U.S. license. No licenses would be issued for tourism.

The

Trump

administration doesn't need an act of Congress to bar Americans from traveling to

North
Korea

.

Under existing law, all it would take is a designation by Tillerson — called a "geographic travel restriction" — to make all American passports invalid for travel to

North
Korea

. To back up the designation, Tillerson could assert that Americans face "imminent danger" to their health or safety if they travel there, an easily defendable assertion in the wake of Warmbier's death.

The U.S. doesn't currently prohibit its passports from being used to travel to any countries, even though financial restrictions limit U.S. travel to Cuba and elsewhere. If a passport ban were placed on

North
Korea

, an American who violated it could face a fine and up to 10 years in prison for a first offense.

Schiff said a new law was important to show Congress' unity on

North
Korea

, arguing that financial measures through the Treasury Department might be more effective than a passport ban because it would deter travel companies ferrying Americans.

"This has the merits of protecting Americans from going to a place of increasing danger, but also drying up one source of our currency for

North
Korea

," Schiff said in an interview.

Short of a total ban, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., proposed that prospective American travelers complete a form declaring they won't hold the U.S. government responsible for what happens. He said the form would require Americans to affirm they're aware of what's transpired to other U.S. citizens, such as Warmbier, whom the senator said was "murdered" by the

North

.

"If people are that stupid that they still want to go to that country, then at least they assume the responsibility for their welfare," McCain said.

__

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Matthew Lee, Matthew Pennington and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.