US Man Arrested, Jailed and Sentenced in North Korea

The North said last month it arrested Gomes, 30, on Jan. 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. "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 U.S. on its nuclear program. "Continuing to hold him in custody is also a burden for North Korea" as it will only galvanize criticism of its human rights record, Yoo said. 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.