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sqrlnutz123
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Location: South Korea
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 Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:13 pm Post subject: Another One Arrested in N. Korea |
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What is with these people? Is it really that easy to go wandering around and suddenly find yourself in N. Korea?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8606460.stm
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| North Korea has sentenced a US citizen to eight years' hard labour for illegally entering the country, state news agency KCNA has said. |
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Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I guess these people already have tramp stamp tattoos and needed to move on to the next big fad. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:27 am Post subject: |
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| Reggie wrote: |
| I guess these people already have tramp stamp tattoos and needed to move on to the next big fad. |
If Gomes has a tramp stamp then....I dunno what to say. |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:04 am Post subject: |
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Hahaha, this article says 70 million Won is 700,000 USD 
He was an English teacher 
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| North Korea said Wednesday it has sentenced an American man to eight years' hard labor and a fine equivalent to $700,000 for entering the country illegally and unspecified hostile acts. Aijalon Mahli Gomes was fined 70 million won... |
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Murakano
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| an ex teacher here too.... |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:32 am Post subject: |
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| Forward Observer wrote: |
| Hahaha, this article says 70 million Won is 700,000 USD |
North Korean won (at current exchange rates).
(Didn't think through that one, did you?) |
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sqrlnutz123
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| Wow. The North Korean won is so much cooler than the South Korean won. I bet it has a tramp stamp, too. |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| Forward Observer wrote: |
| Hahaha, this article says 70 million Won is 700,000 USD |
North Korean won (at current exchange rates).
(Didn't think through that one, did you?) |
GOT me  |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| OP: You may wish to change this thread's title. You're talking about someone who'd already been arrested, so "another one" is misleading. Perhaps "another one sentenced by the Norks"? |
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Murakano
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Former Pocheon English teacher and Uijongbu resident from what I've heard... |
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soakitincider
Joined: 19 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| True. I replaced him at Sinbong Elementary in Pocheon. A "different" sort. |
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Murakano
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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| soakitincider wrote: |
| True. I replaced him at Sinbong Elementary in Pocheon. A "different" sort. |
you might know a few of these teachers/VP who commented about the situation....
Gomes came to South Korea about two years ago to teach English. Fellow American Jered Lyons says he taught in the same town as Gomes from October 2008 to July of 2009. He describes Gomes as deeply religious.
�Aijalon was always, he was the type of guy that kind of wanted to share the Gospel, if you will, share his faith,� he said. �He would always invite me to church with him, and always wanted to have Bible studies and stuff like that. So, I think he had a deep passion for bringing people to Christianity.�
Lyons says Gomes did not always relate easily to other people. �Overall, he was a nice guy. He meant well. He was a little socially awkward. I mean, yeah, I would say he didn�t do groups well,� he said. [Voice of America, Kurt Achin]
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.� [AP]
�Mr. Gomes was a quiet man and was very diligent in church activities,� said Kang Hyang-seon, a teacher who worked with him at Sinbong Elementary School in Pocheon, a town north of Seoul near the border with North Korea.
Mr. Gomes flew into South Korea in the spring of 2008 for a one-year teaching contract with Sinbong. South Korea draws thousands of native speakers every year from the United States, Canada and elsewhere to teach English at schools. His contract with Sinbong expired on March 31 last year and he did not renew it, the school said.
At Sinbong, he taught 20 hours a week helping third- to sixth-graders learn English.
Mr. Gomes told his colleagues that he wanted to move to a town closer to Seoul so it would be easier for him to attend a foreigners� church in the industrial district of Guro . They remembered him talking about doing volunteer community work with other Christians.
�He was a polite man and was very nice toward children,� said Chung Pil-gyu, another Sinbong teacher. [N.Y. Times, Choe Sang-Hun]
�All the memories we have about Gomes, who is an African-American, are only good. Everyone here liked him,� school headmaster Cho Kyoo-Sig told AFP. �I remember him as a very mellow and calm person. He was very kind to everybody and all the children liked him so much.
Gomes left the school, saying he would find a better-paying job in Uijeongbu City next to Seoul. �If he wants to return to this school, he would always be welcome. It�s hard to find a native English teacher as good as Gomes,� Cho said.
A teacher said Gomes was a �deeply religious person.� �He acted like an evangelist. He took the trouble to commute to Seoul to participate in Wednesday prayer sessions at a foreigners� church there,� she said. �He was also engaged in community service, working as a volunteer at a day care centre.� [AFP] |
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BoholDiver
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:01 am Post subject: |
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None of this explains why he entered NK illegally.
Bill Clinton has better things to do than save this doofus too. Or worse. he could be traded for food or money for NK's starving army. Like a ransom for pirates.
What an idiot. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:01 am Post subject: |
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None of this explains why he entered NK illegally.
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I suspect that with his evangelical fervour, he got swept up in the idea of storming the barricades and leading the North Koreans to Christ. Probably, he was raised on romanticized stories about Christian missionaries elsewhere doing the same thing.
Of course there could be more to this story than meets the eye. Possibly he was mixed up with the groups that help people escape from North Korea, a good number of whom are Christian. Either way, I'd wager that religion played a major role in his decision. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Possibly he was mixed up with the groups that help people escape from North Korea, a good number of whom are Christian. |
Yeah, maybe he was just checking out their get-people-out-of-North-Korea procedures.
"Okay, I'll go in and if you can get me back out, then we know it works! Cool? Okay, let me roll!!"
I'm not blaming religion here, but it sure does weird stuff to people who already have holes in their brains. |
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