Boston man held in N. Korea attempts suicide
North Korea says a Boston man imprisoned for illegally entering the country has attempted to kill himself.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday that Aijalon Mahli Gomes attempted to commit suicide and was being treated at a hospital.
The report said Gomes' actions were "driven by his strong guilty conscience" and despair that the U.S. government that has not tried to gain his freedom.
A spokeswoman for Gomes' family says they are "upset and concerned" and called for his release on humanitarian grounds.
Gomes was sentenced in April to eight years of hard labor and fined $700,000 for entering the country illegally and for an unspecified "hostile act."
