U.S. officials have been allowed for the first time to see an American teacher who has been jailed in North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday that a U.S. diplomat, two doctors and a translator were in Pyongyang from Monday through Wednesday of last week. He said he believed the meeting with 30-year-old Aijalon Gomes took place at a hospital.
The spokesman added that the United States is continuing to seek his immediate release because of health worries.
Gomes, who had worked as an English teacher in Seoul, was arrested in January and has been sentenced to eight years of hard labor. North Korea said last month that he had attempted suicide.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
