I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3446 

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 

MAY 20, 2021 

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

MENG) 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: 

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

9 of the United Nations Command signed an armistice 


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1 agreement with the supreme commander of the 

2 North Korean People’s Army and the commander of 

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

4 a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of 

5 armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settle6 ment is achieved’’. 

7 (2) The armistice agreement neither formally 

8 ended the war nor represented a final peaceful set9 tlement. 

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

11 leaders of South Korea and North Korea declared 

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

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

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

15 signing of the armistice agreement. 

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

17 Korea, the Biden Administration expressed support 

18 for the Singapore framework, which identifies peace 

19 on the Korean peninsula as an objective of any fu20 ture negotiations between the United States and 

21 North Korea. 

22 (5) The United States should pursue a sus23 tained and credible diplomatic process to achieve an 

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


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1 made to avoid military confrontation with North 

2 Korea. 

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

4 serve the national interest of the United States and 

5 its allies. 

6 (7) One major consequence of the continuation 

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

8 have formal relations with North Korea, which has 

9 prevented Korean Americans with relatives in North 

10 Korea from seeing their families. 

11 (8) Approximately 100,000 Americans have rel12 atives living in North Korea. 

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

14 the United States and North Korea discussed for15 mally ending the Korean war and the exchange of 

16 diplomatic liaison offices, however these discussions 

17 did not advance due to a stalemate on nuclear and 

18 missile issues. 

19 (10) The ongoing nuclear- and ballistic-missile20 related activities of North Korea continue to pose a 

21 threat to international peace and security. 

22 SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING VIS23 ITING NORTH KOREA. 

24 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that the current restrictions barring United States 


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1 nationals traveling to the Democratic People’s Republic of 

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

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

4 a full review of the restrictions in place conditioning the 

5 travel of United States nationals to the DPRK. Such re6 view shall include consideration of the following: 

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

8 the nature of travel to the DPRK that qualifies as 

9 ‘‘in the national interest’’ of the United States, in10 cluding whether the scope of travel qualifying as 

11 such should be adjusted. 

12 (2) The ‘‘compelling humanitarian consider13 ations’’ that qualify a United States national for 

14 travel to the DPRK, including whether the scope of 

15 travel permissible under such considerations should 

16 be adjusted. 

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

18 under what conditions, travel to the DPRK for the 

19 purposes of attending to or witnessing funerals, bur20 ials, or other religious and family commemorations 

21 of relatives of United States nationals in the DPRK 

22 does or should qualify as ‘‘compelling humanitarian 

23 considerations’’ meriting issuance of Special Valida24 tion Passports to such nationals. 

25 (c) REPORT.— 


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

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

4 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

5 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

6 a report detailing the review conducted under sub7 section (b). Such report shall include a comprehen8 sive description of the Department of State’s consid9 eration of all matters described in paragraphs (1), 

10 (2), and (3) of such subsection, including, as appli11 cable, any related policy changes and the rationale 

12 behind the Department’s decision to make or refrain 

13 from making policy changes relating to such mat14 ters. 

15 (2) FORM.—The report required under para16 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

17 may contain a classified annex. 

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

19 WAR. 

20 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that given the commitment of the leaders of South 

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

23 to actively promote meetings involving the United States 

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

25 a peace agreement and establishing a permanent and solid 


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1 peace regime’’, the Secretary of State should pursue seri2 ous, urgent diplomatic engagement with North Korea and 

3 South Korea in pursuit of a binding peace agreement con4 stituting a formal and final end to the state of war be5 tween North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. 

6 (b) REPORT.— 

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

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

10 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

12 a report that describes a clear roadmap for achieving 

13 a permanent peace agreement on the Korean penin14 sula. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

16 paragraph (1) shall— 

17 (A) contain an accounting of the steps nec18 essary to enter into negotiations with North 

19 Korea and South Korea to conclude a binding 

20 peace agreement; 

21 (B) identify the key stakeholders involved 

22 in such negotiations; and 

23 (C) describe the challenges concerning the 

24 ability of the United States to achieve a binding 

25 peace agreement constituting a formal and final 


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1 end to the state of war between North Korea, 

2 South Korea, and the United States. 

3 (3) FORM.—The report required under para4 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

5 may contain a classified annex. 

6 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHING LIAISON OFFICES. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that given the joint state8 ment signed by the United States and North Korea in 

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

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

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

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

13 enter into negotiations with the Democratic People’s Re14 public of North Korea (DPRK) to establish liaison offices 

15 of the DPRK and the United States in the respective cap16 itals of each such country. 

Æ 


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