Asia-Pacific

Carter leaves Pyongyang, DPRK says willing to resume six-party talks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-27 10:41

PYONGYANG - Former US President Jimmy Carter left Pyongyang Friday after securing the release of a US man detained in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since January.

? Aijalon Mahli Gomes (C), a 30-year-old former English teacher in South Korea who was detained by the DPRK on Jan 25 for entering the country illegally, is about to board a plane at an airport in Pyongyang Aug 27, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Meanwhile, the official KCNA news agency reported that Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, "expressed the will of the DPRK government for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks," during a meeting with Carter during the latter's stay in Pyongyang.

Related readings:  US confirms Carter in DPRK for release of US citizen  Former US president Carter arrives in Pyongyang

Carter and Aijalon Mahli Gomes, the US man, boarded a plane and left the country, as Xinhua reporters witnessed at the scene. Policemen were stationed along the road in a rainy day as the pair was en route to the airport.

The former US president talked with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan for about five minutes at the airport.

Carter also received flowers from a young DPRK girl and kissed her. He and Gomes posed for photos taken by journalists.

Gomes, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and carrying two bags, waved to the people who saw him and Carter off at the airport.

Carter arrived here Wednesday to seek the release of Gomes, a 30-year-old former English teacher in South Korea who was detained by the DPRK on January 25 for entering the country illegally.

On April 6, Gomes, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment and fined about 700,000 US dollars.

The Obama administration on Tuesday refused to comment on the visit, saying Washington had no plan to send envoy to Pyongyang.

Carter, a Nobel peace laureate, was said to be travelling as a private citizen, similar to that by former President Bill Clinton in August last year when he secured the release of two US journalists detained there for illegal entry.