The last American guests left North Korea before the travel ban

The US State Department implemented a ban on citizens traveling to North Korea from September 1.

The last Americans leave North Korea

Nicholas, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was one of the last American tourists to leave North Korea on an Air Koryo flight before the US travel ban took effect, Reuters reported on August 31.

Nicholas (pushing luggage) gives an interview at Beijing airport.

`I was surprised by the friendly locals,` Nicholas said at Beijing airport.

Nicholas’s 5-day tour costs 1,850 euros.

Also on the flight with Nicholas, Jamie Banfill was a tour guide to North Korea, but this time she came as a tourist.

Jamie decided to make the trip to say goodbye after a decade of frequenting North Korea.

`Things are very complicated on the Korean peninsula and they (the US government) have simplified it,` Jamie said.

In July, the US announced a ban on citizens with US passports from traveling to North Korea, starting from September 1.

It is unclear how many US citizens have sought, received, or received exemptions from the ban, and how many remain in North Korea.

The last American guests left North Korea before the travel ban

Americans rushed to book the last tour to North Korea before September 1.

Pressure increases

North Korea is under increasing international pressure after a series of nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, including a missile that flew over northern Japan on August 29.

The ban on citizens traveling to North Korea was announced after the death of American university student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed while participating in a tour last year.

Warmbier was returned to the US in a coma in June and died six days later.

Warmbier during his trial in North Korea.

Nicholas said: `I thought I would be subject to strict security checks when I arrived in North Korea, but things did not go as expected.`

The US State Department announced that citizens will not be allowed to enter, stay or transit in North Korea.

North Korean media described the ban as a `dirty` attempt by the US to limit contact between citizens of the two countries.

North Korea currently holds two Korean-American scholars and an American missionary, along with three South Koreans doing missionary work.

Joe Wilson, a US official, said that of the 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who visit North Korea each year, about a few hundred are Americans.

Pham Huyen