North Korea said Monday that it will put an American on trial

North Korea said Monday that it will put an American on trial for entering the communist country illegally.

State-run media identified him as Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, of Boston, and said “his crime has been confirmed.” The brief dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency did not say when he would stand trial.

A spokeswoman for the man’s family in Boston, Thaleia Schlesinger, said that Gomes had been teaching English in South Korea for about two years and that it was unclear why he would have gone to North Korea.

She said his family was going through a difficult time and is “praying for his speedy return home.”

North Korea had announced two months ago that an American was detained Jan. 25 for trespassing after crossing into the country from China and was under investigation, but had not identified him at the time.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the United States wants to make sure the detained American man is returned to the United States as soon as possible.

“We are concerned about his health and welfare. We are obviously concerned about whatever legal process he might face,” Crowley said, adding that the U.S. has concerns about North Korea’s lack of transparency.”

North Korea sure knows how to secure its borders!

Gomes is the fourth American reported detained in communist North Korea on charges of illegal entry in the past year.

North Korea has pressed the U.S. for bilateral talks to discuss a peace treaty as part of any disarmament negotiations, citing the U.S. military presence on South Korean soil as a main reason for its drive to build nuclear weapons.

In America, we give illegal immigrants, free health care, free education, free jobs, free food, etc.

Source AP