North Korea says it has no interest in US travel ban list

ANKARA

North Korea stated on Tuesday that it has no interest in being included or excluded from the US list of countries banned from its domestic travel, state media reported.

While Pyongyang was not included on the list, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a response days after US President Donald Trump issued a travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Trump justified his move, which went into effect on Monday, by citing protection from "foreign terrorists" and security threats.

A news report in March suggested that North Korea and Russia were also among the countries considered for the travel ban, but both were omitted from the final list.

The KCNA reported that North Korea's omission from the list may reflect the US' "carrot" approach toward Pyongyang to open the door to resuming dialogue.

Pyongyang added that only the US could explain why North Korea was not included on the list, whether for technical or political reasons, but "one obvious fact is that we are not in the least interested in the matter of entry into the US."

Even if the present US administration has not placed North Korea intentionally on the list of countries subject to an entry ban, Pyongyang is unconcerned and has no reason to rejoice, the KCNA reported.

*Writing by Aamir Latif