I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1369 

To review current restrictions on travel to North Korea, call for a formal 

end to the Korean War, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2023 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. 

CORREA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TONKO, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. BIGGS, 

Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. BUSH, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. CHU, Ms. OMAR, and Mr. GREEN of 

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To review current restrictions on travel to North Korea, 

call for a formal end to the Korean War, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peace on the Korean 

5 Peninsula Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) On July 27, 1953, the commander in chief 

2 of the United Nations Command signed an armistice 

3 agreement with the supreme commander of the 

4 North Korean People’s Army and the commander of 

5 the Chinese People’s Volunteers, aiming to ‘‘insure 

6 a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of 

7 armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settle8 ment is achieved’’. 

9 (2) The armistice agreement neither formally 

10 ended the war nor represented a final peaceful set11 tlement. 

12 (3) On April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, the 

13 leaders of South Korea and North Korea declared 

14 that ‘‘a new era of peace has begun on the Korean 

15 peninsula’’, and committed ‘‘to declare the end of 

16 war’’ on the Korean peninsula 65 years after the 

17 signing of the armistice agreement. 

18 (4) In its roll out of its policy towards North 

19 Korea, the Biden Administration expressed support 

20 for the Singapore framework, which identifies peace 

21 on the Korean peninsula as an objective of any fu22 ture negotiations between the United States and 

23 North Korea. 

24 (5) The United States should pursue a sus25 tained and credible diplomatic process to achieve an 


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1 end to the Korean war, and every effort should be 

2 made to avoid military confrontation with North 

3 Korea. 

4 (6) The persistence of a state of war does not 

5 serve the national interest of the United States and 

6 its allies. 

7 (7) One major consequence of the continuation 

8 of the Korean war is that the United States does not 

9 have formal relations with North Korea, which has 

10 prevented Korean Americans with relatives in North 

11 Korea from seeing their families. 

12 (8) Approximately 100,000 Americans have rel13 atives living in North Korea. 

14 (9) At the Hanoi Summit in February 2019, 

15 the United States and North Korea discussed for16 mally ending the Korean war and the exchange of 

17 diplomatic liaison offices, however these discussions 

18 did not advance due to a stalemate on nuclear and 

19 missile issues. 

20 (10) The ongoing nuclear- and ballistic-missile21 related activities of North Korea continue to pose a 

22 threat to international peace and security. 


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1 SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING VIS2 ITING NORTH KOREA. 

3 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that the current restrictions barring United States 

5 nationals traveling to the Democratic People’s Republic of 

6 Korea (DPRK) warrant review by the Secretary of State. 

7 (b) REVIEW.—The Secretary of State shall conduct 

8 a full review of the restrictions in place conditioning the 

9 travel of United States nationals to the DPRK. Such re10 view shall include consideration of the following: 

11 (1) The Department of State’s guidance as to 

12 the nature of travel to the DPRK that qualifies as 

13 ‘‘in the national interest’’ of the United States, in14 cluding whether the scope of travel qualifying as 

15 such should be adjusted. 

16 (2) The ‘‘compelling humanitarian consider17 ations’’ that qualify a United States national for 

18 travel to the DPRK, including whether the scope of 

19 travel permissible under such considerations should 

20 be adjusted. 

21 (3) Whether, and if so, to what extent and 

22 under what conditions, travel to the DPRK for the 

23 purposes of attending to or witnessing funerals, bur24 ials, or other religious and family commemorations 

25 of relatives of United States nationals in the DPRK 

26 does or should qualify as ‘‘compelling humanitarian 


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1 considerations’’ meriting issuance of Special Valida2 tion Passports to such nationals. 

3 (c) REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

9 a report detailing the review conducted under sub10 section (b). Such report shall include a comprehen11 sive description of the Department of State’s consid12 eration of all matters described in paragraphs (1), 

13 (2), and (3) of such subsection, including, as appli14 cable, any related policy changes and the rationale 

15 behind the Department’s decision to make or refrain 

16 from making policy changes relating to such mat17 ters. 

18 (2) FORM.—The report required under para19 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

20 may contain a classified annex. 

21 SEC. 4. CALLING FOR A FORMAL END TO THE KOREAN 

22 WAR. 

23 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that given the commitment of the leaders of South 

25 Korea and North Korea in Panmunjom on April 27, 2018, 


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1 to actively promote meetings involving the United States 

2 ‘‘with a view to replacing the Armistice Agreement with 

3 a peace agreement and establishing a permanent and solid 

4 peace regime’’, the Secretary of State should pursue seri5 ous, urgent diplomatic engagement with North Korea and 

6 South Korea in pursuit of a binding peace agreement con7 stituting a formal and final end to the state of war be8 tween North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. 

9 (b) REPORT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

13 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

15 a report that describes a clear roadmap for achieving 

16 a permanent peace agreement on the Korean penin17 sula. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

19 paragraph (1) shall— 

20 (A) contain an accounting of the steps nec21 essary to enter into negotiations with North 

22 Korea and South Korea to conclude a binding 

23 peace agreement; 

24 (B) identify the key stakeholders involved 

25 in such negotiations; and 


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1 (C) describe the challenges concerning the 

2 ability of the United States to achieve a binding 

3 peace agreement constituting a formal and final 

4 end to the state of war between North Korea, 

5 South Korea, and the United States. 

6 (3) FORM.—The report required under para7 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

8 may contain a classified annex. 

9 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHING LIAISON OFFICES. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that given the joint state11 ment signed by the United States and North Korea in 

12 Singapore on June 12, 2018, which included an agreement 

13 to ‘‘establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with 

14 the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace 

15 and prosperity’’, the Secretary of State should seek to 

16 enter into negotiations with the Democratic People’s Re17 public of North Korea (DPRK) to establish liaison offices 

18 of the DPRK and the United States in the respective cap19 itals of each such country. 

20 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

21 Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect the 

22 status of United States Armed Forces stationed in South 

23 Korea or any other foreign country. 

Æ 


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