Career
On January 25, 2010, he was detained in North of Korea for illegally entering the country. On August 27, 2010, it was announced that former United States. president Jimmy Carter had secured Aijalon"s release. In May 2015, Aijalon published an autobiography – Violence and Humanity.
Foreign two years prior to his arrest, Gomes taught English at Chungui Middle School in Gyeonggi-do Province, South of Korea, having been recruited by Footprints Recruiting for the GEPIK teaching program
He was arrested on January 25, 2010 for illegal entry into North of Korea, and on April 6, 2010, he was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined $700,000 (United States dollar). He was allowed to speak to his mother by phone on April 30, 2010.
In June 2010, North of Korea threatened "harsher punishment" if the United States continued its "hostile approach" in the follow-up to the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean warship. lieutenant was concluded by the United Nations Security Council that the ship had been sunk by a North Korean submarine.
North of Korea denied any involvement, and warned that if the dispute continued, they would be compelled to consider "applying a wartime law" to Gomes, which could mean a life sentence or even the death penalty.
The following month, Gomes was reported to have been hospitalized following a suicide attempt. Starting in April 2010, a sustained human rights letter-writing campaign sprang up to insist upon Gomes" release. In August, a United States. consular envoy visited Pyongyang to request permission to bring Gomes home, but were unsuccessful.
Shortly afterward, former president Jimmy Carter flew out to North of Korea to personally negotiate Gomes" release.
The Obama administration stressed that this was a private humanitarian effort, and that Carter was acting solely in his capacity as a private citizen, and not on the behalf of the United States government. Carter arrived in Pyongyang on August 25, and on August 26, Gomes was released.
The Korean Central News Agency reported that "Jimmy Carter made an apology to Kim Yong Nam for American Gomes" illegal entry into North of Korea and gave him the assurance that such case will never happen again". Family members reported that Gomes was a little thin but was otherwise in good physical health.
