Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter departed Pyongyang this morning with freed American Aijalon Mahli Gomes at the end of a two day trip to the North Korean capital, according to a report carried by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA).
Gomes and former President Carter were seen off at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, the report added.
According to KCNA, Gomes, who was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and a fine of around $700,000 for illegally entering North Korea on January 25th this year, has been pardoned and released on the direct orders of Kim Jong Il.
“Under Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Gomes, the American who illegally entered this country, has been given a pardon on orders handed down by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea National Defense Commission Chairman,” the KCNA’s dispatch read.
“The measure freeing the American who illegally entered the country is the result of our nation’s humanitarian and peace-oriented policy,” it added.
Although former President Carter was presumably unable to meet with Kim Jong Il during the trip, KCNA reported that he had talks at Pyongyang’s Mansudae Assembly Hall with Supreme People’s Assembly Permanent Chairperson Kim Young Nam, and the two thereafter attended a banquet at Youngbin Hall, a reception hall at Baekhwawon, a special guest house for VIPs.
According to the KCNA report, “Candid discussions were held with the Foreign Minister and the Ministry’s Vice Minister for American Affairs on Chosun-U.S. bilateral relations problems, the Six-Party Talks and Chosun Peninsula Denuclearization during the visit of Carter’s party.”
“The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was the dying wish of the great Kim Il Sung,” it also noted, adding that former President Carter and his team attended a performance by the State Symphony Orchestra during their stay.
