Washington has banned citizens from using U.S. passports to travel to North Korea for the eighth consecutive year, the State Department announced Tuesday, extending travel restrictions due to the “serious risk” of arrest and long-term detention.

Washington instituted the ban in 2017 after the death of 22-year-old American citizen Otto Warmbier, who North Korea detained and then returned to the U.S. in a comatose state following 17 months in captivity. 

While the U.S. has extended the ban annually, this year’s extensionof the travel restriction comes as North Korea has shown signs that it is preparing to reopen to larger