Gomes Returning to US

Aijalon Gomes (Photo: roadturn.com)

Former US President Jimmy Carter secured the release of Aijalon Gomes during a two-day trip to Pyongyang.   KCNA announced one version of the interaction that facilitated Mr. Gomes’ return home:

Jimmy Carter made an apology to Kim Yong Nam for American Gomes’ illegal entry into the DPRK and gave him the assurance that such case will never happen again on behalf of the government and the ex-president of the U.S. He asked Kim Yong Nam to convey to General Secretary Kim Jong Il a message courteously requesting him to grant special pardon to Gomes to leniently forgive him and let him go home.

After receiving a report on the request made by the U.S. government and Carter, Kim Jong Il issued an order of the chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission on granting amnesty to Gomes, an illegal entrant, pursuant to Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK.