By DPA,
Seoul : Former US president Jimmy Carter is travelling to North Korea to secure the release of a US citizen imprisoned in the Stalinist state, a South Korean media report said Wednesday.
Carter left the US on a civilian aircraft, KBS radio reported, quoting diplomats in Washington. The 85-year-old former president is accompanied by his wife, Rosalynn, and John Hardman, president of the Carter-Center.
According to Foreign Policy magazine, Carter’s trip to Pyongyang was of a private nature.
Carter is trying to secure the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, who was sentenced to eight years earlier this year for illegal entry. Gomes, who worked as English teacher in South Korea, was arrested in January when he tried to enter the communist state from China.
One year ago former president Bill Clinton travelled to North Korea to free two US journalists, who had also been arrested for illegal entry and sentenced to several years of forced labour.