Carter to visit N.Korea to win release of detained American

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has left for North Korea to try to secure the release of an American citizen, who was put behind bars for illegally entering the North in January 2010, media reports said on Wednesday. 

Earlier this month, Pyongyang signaled its readiness to free Aijalon Mahli Gomes, pointing to Jimmy Carter, who it insisted should visit North Korea to win the release of Gomes.

In April, the 30-year-old was sentenced to eight years in a hard labor camp for illegally crossing into North Korea, where he allegedly grappled with “an array of hostile acts”. He tried to commit suicide in the labor camp in July, Korean media reported.