Sharing a Bible, declaring asylum, launching a subterranean campaign whose name alludes to a Biblical conquest tale: all ill-advised moves by Americans in North Korea that have given the State Department more work to do.

So why does the U.S. government put up with it? Why not simply stop Americans, except those with special permission, from entering North Korea at all?

A panel of American experts said that, difficult as such incidents may make life for diplomats, an actual ban on travel is unlikely, because it would be contrary to American values.

While there is some precedent for the