Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter landed in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Wednesday in the hopes of freeing a fellow American detained for illegally entering the country.
On March 22, 2010, North Korea disclosed the identity of a U.S. citizen who was captured by the nation's authorities in late January for illegally crossing the border and announced that he would stand trial.
"The appropriate DPRK organ concerned decided to indict Aijalon Mahli Gomes, male U.S. citizen, born on June 19, 1979, and residing in Boston, Massachusetts, who illegally entered the country as his crime has been confirmed," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said in a one-paragraph report.
As an obvious attempt to begin talks over the rising tension in the region, the North Korean high command has dangled the school teacher's release in exchange for a visit from former President Carter.
Carter, 85, and his party were greeted at the Pyongyang Airport by top North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan, KCNA said.
The NY Daily News reported that "a senior U.S. official said that Carter is not representing the U.S. government and was going on the mission solely for humanitarian purposes as a private citizen."
In April, the trial commenced and the agency reported that: "An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and trespassing on the border of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... and his guilt was confirmed, according to the country's criminal code. The accused admitted all the facts which had been put under accusation."
Unofficial sources, as well as Gomes' pictures circulating the web (http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/08/25/amd_korea_aijalon-mahli-gomes.jpg) indicate, that he was a participant in marches against human rights abuses by the North Korean government, and was inspired to travel north of Seoul under the example of Robert Park, a heroic missionary who was detained for crossing the border of the communist nation with the intent of spreading Christianity.
Convicted for an unspecified "hostile act" compiled with the charge of entering the country illegally, the Sinbong Elementary School teacher received a sentence of 8 years imprisonment and hard labor, as well as a fine of $700,000.
As The Times has confirmed "diplomats from the Swedish Embassy were allowed to attend the trial on [Gomes'] behalf." The United States has no diplomatic relations with the reclusive nation and therefore uses the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to conduct matters of state.
Mark Toner, a U.S. State Department spokesman told the Huffington Post that Swedish diplomats visited Gomes on Friday, on their eighth such visit. "We reiterate our urge for the North Korean government to release Mr. Gomes on humanitarian grounds," said the spokesman. "We're concerned about his welfare."
The story from the Huffington Post on July 9, just about four months after Gomes' sentencing, said that "an American imprisoned for illegally entering the reclusive country has tried to kill himself."
Moscow, August 25 (RIA Novosti)
