8 years' hard labor for N. Korea visit
Source: Agencies |
April 8, 2010, Thursday
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NORTH Korea has sentenced an American teacher to eight years of hard labor and ordered him to pay a US$700,000 fine after he crossed illegally into the country - the fourth US citizen to be detained by the country since last year.
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, acknowledged his wrongdoing during a trial at the Central Court on Tuesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch yesterday.
The North said last month it arrested Gomes, 30, on January 25 for trespassing after he crossed into the country from China.
Gomes, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, had been teaching English in South Korea and no details have emerged about why he went to the North. However, Jo Sung-rae, a Seoul-based activist, said Gomes may have been inspired by his acquaintance with an American missionary who made a similar trip to the North in December to protest the country's human rights record.
The report said the court sentenced Gomes to eight years of "hard labor" and fined him 70 million won.
"An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of (North Korea) against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed," it said.
Verdicts issued by the Central Court - North Korea's highest - are final and cannot be appealed, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul.
But Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Korea University, said Gomes would almost certainly be released as the North appears to want to use his case as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the US on its nuclear program.
Three other Americans have crossed into the North since March 2009 but all were freed after diplomatic negotiations, including a visit by former President Bill Clinton.
Colleagues in South Korea describe Gomes as a quiet and devout Christian who was serious about his work teaching English.
Representatives of the Swedish Embassy in North Korea, which looks after US interests in the country, witnessed Gomes' trial, the KCNA report said. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang referred queries to the US State Department, which did not comment.
US officials have said they want to make sure Gomes is returned to the US as soon as possible.
Thaleia Schlesinger, spokeswoman for Gomes' relatives, said they are "disturbed" by the verdict and will pray for his early return.
(AP)
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, acknowledged his wrongdoing during a trial at the Central Court on Tuesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch yesterday.
The North said last month it arrested Gomes, 30, on January 25 for trespassing after he crossed into the country from China.
Gomes, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, had been teaching English in South Korea and no details have emerged about why he went to the North. However, Jo Sung-rae, a Seoul-based activist, said Gomes may have been inspired by his acquaintance with an American missionary who made a similar trip to the North in December to protest the country's human rights record.
The report said the court sentenced Gomes to eight years of "hard labor" and fined him 70 million won.
"An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of (North Korea) against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed," it said.
Verdicts issued by the Central Court - North Korea's highest - are final and cannot be appealed, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul.
But Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Korea University, said Gomes would almost certainly be released as the North appears to want to use his case as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the US on its nuclear program.
Three other Americans have crossed into the North since March 2009 but all were freed after diplomatic negotiations, including a visit by former President Bill Clinton.
Colleagues in South Korea describe Gomes as a quiet and devout Christian who was serious about his work teaching English.
Representatives of the Swedish Embassy in North Korea, which looks after US interests in the country, witnessed Gomes' trial, the KCNA report said. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang referred queries to the US State Department, which did not comment.
US officials have said they want to make sure Gomes is returned to the US as soon as possible.
Thaleia Schlesinger, spokeswoman for Gomes' relatives, said they are "disturbed" by the verdict and will pray for his early return.
(AP)
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