BOSTON — An American held captive for seven months in North Korea stepped off a plane in his hometown Friday, looking thin but joyful as he hugged the former president who had helped win his release.
Aijalon Gomes was accompanied by former President Jimmy Carter, who had flown to Pyongyang to negotiate his freedom. Gomes, who had been teaching English in South Korea, was imprisoned and sentenced to eight years of hard labor for crossing into the North from China on Jan. 25 for unknown reasons.
North Korea’s state-run news agency reported last month that Gomes had attempted suicide, leading his family to ask for his release on humanitarian grounds. North Korea said this week that it would release Gomes to Carter if the former president went to get him.
Gomes hugged Carter and his mother before his loved ones encircled him, praying and waving their hands skyward. One man gripped a small American flag, and others held a banner behind them that read: “Welcome home! Disciple of the Lord Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Salvation is ours.”
The banner also pictured a Christian cross and contained biblical references to Acts, Psalms and Job, an Old Testament book about a man who survived great tribulation.
In a statement released earlier Friday, the family thanked Carter and said it felt blessed to welcome Gomes home after what it called “a long, dark and difficult period.”
“I’m just joyful and grateful that my son is home and thank President Jimmy Carter for making sure that he was home safely,” Gomes’ mother, Jacqueline McCarthy, said as she left her home for the airport.
The family also thanked the North Korean government “for caring for Aijalon during his darkest days, then agreeing to release him on humanitarian grounds.”
The family passed by media microphones at the airport without commenting, but later outside McCarthy’s home, several of Gomes’ relatives spoke to the media and said Gomes appeared to be fine physically.
It was unclear what led Gomes to enter the repressive nation. He may have been emulating fellow Christian Robert Park, who was detained after he crossed into North Korea in December to highlight its human-rights record, said Jo Sung-Rae, a South Korean human-rights advocate who met with Gomes. Park was expelled about 40 days after issuing an apology carried by North Korean state media.
