A US citizen facing trial in North Korea for illegal entry is a deeply religious man who previously taught English in South Korea, former colleagues said yesterday.
Disclosing his identity for the first time since his arrest on Jan. 25, the North said on Monday that Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, of Boston, Massachusetts, would be indicted for trial “as his crime has been confirmed.”
The one-paragraph report gave no other details. The North had announced on Jan. 28 the detention of an American, whom it did not identify, for illegal entry.
Officials at Sinbong Elementary School in Pocheon City, north of Seoul, said he taught English there from April 2008 to last March.
“All the memories we have about Gomes, who is an African-American, are only good. Everyone here liked him,” school headmaster Cho Kyoo-sig said.
“I remember him as a very mellow and calm person. He was very kind to everybody and all the children liked him so much,” Cho said.
Gomes left the school, saying he would find a better-paying job in Uijeongbu City.
“If he wants to return to this school, he would always be welcome. It’s hard to find a native English teacher as good as Gomes,” Cho said.
A teacher said Gomes was a “deeply religious person.”
“He acted like an evangelist. He took the trouble to commute to Seoul to participate in Wednesday prayer sessions at a foreigners’ church there,” she said. “He was also engaged in community service, working as a volunteer at a day care center.”
The US State Department did not confirm the man’s identity, but lamented the lack of transparency surrounding the case. It said it would monitor the case through the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang.
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