Aijalon Gomes Doesn’t Sound Much Like a Defector After All
Update, 24 March 2010: Well, KCJ’s first guess turns out to have been right.
A Boston man detained in North Korea is a quiet, devout Christian so concerned about an American missionary held in Pyongyang that he was moved to tears at rallies protesting the communist regime, fellow activists said Wednesday.
North Korea announced Monday that Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, would stand trial after entering the country illegally. The trial date was not mentioned in a brief report in state media.
It was not immediately clear why Gomes, who taught English in South Korea, went to the communist country. However, activists in Seoul said he was an acquaintance of Robert Park, a fellow Christian from Arizona who crossed into North Korea on Christmas in a bold bid to draw attention to the country’s human rights situation. [AP]
GI Korea has more here.
Original Post, 23 March 2010: Whatever his motives for crossing into North Korea, Aijalon Mahli Gomes certainly doesn’t fit the angry left personality profile the Donga Ilbo’s first quotation of him led me to believe — that is, the sort of American who’d want to join the North Korean army.
On the contrary, the information assembled by GI Korea’s readers and press reports suggests that he’s a nice, quiet, deeply religious, and somewhat awkward man. He may have belonged to some of the same religious groups as Robert Park. And like Park’s, his crossing is unlikely to have the intended effects, whatever those might be.
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]
And lest we forget why people need to stop walking into North Korea:
North Korea has used detained American citizens as bargaining chips with the United States. The trial announcement comes as Washington has been putting pressure on Pyongyang to end its yearlong boycott of nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks. [Reuters, Jon Herskovitz]
A new article was posted today in the Boston Herald:
Story Here
I guess we’ll have to ask him when he is released.
But, without any note or aforementioned contact before leaving, I’m starting to suspect he didn’t cross the border willingly. Someone might’ve grabbed him.
Someone at The Marmot’s Hole claims this came from Robert Park regarding Mr Gomes:
My apologies for the “yelling” but that’s what the original had.
If this is legitimate, then it just demonstrates what some of us have been saying all along: People like Mr Park and Mr Gomes traipsing into North Korea can easily have a detrimental effect on Washington’s (or Seoul’s) North Korea policy.
That said, I don’t think Mr Park’s angst about what to do about his friend is so out-of-line or crazy. Many of us might react so desperately as this, but that’s all the more reason why they shouldn’t have gone there in the first place.
This looks like the same thing I got in a mass e-mail from Norbert Vollertsen. Because the e-mail didn’t come from Park himself, I can’t really vouch for its authenticity.
The word will reach the Nork street that American Christians are walking openly into North Korea. This is a lethal blow to the DPRK’s Juche cult. There is no precedent for this in Korea and the consequences will be game-changing.
Lest we forget, Christians were instrumental in bringing down the Romanian dictator Nicolai Ceaucescu in 1989:
Could be sooner than you think. General Walter Sharp is urging regime collapse planning now.
The wheels are coming off in the DPRK FAST.
T
“The word will reach the Nork street that American Christians are walking openly into North Korea.”
But… American Christians are walking openly into North Korea anyway. There are literally hundreds of churches across North America that have operations within the DPRK right now, with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the regime.
If this letter is indeed from Robert Park then I suggest he better gets back to his mental institution as clearly his treatment isn’t working.
“But… American Christians are walking openly into North Korea anyway. There are literally hundreds of churches across North America that have operations within the DPRK right now, with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the regime.”
JACK: Email me about this. I want the details.
tbabe29@yahoo.com
Theresa
KCJ is right in the respect that “when it all falls down” is coming closer than it has ever been for the regime.
Jack is referring to the stoogism of Samaritan’s Purse, some Christian rock bands, and other Christian NGOs who are ersatz Sunshine Policy adherents. They do come in during the light of day and with complete complicity of the DPRK’s government, but little or none of the donations make it into the hands of the intended recipients: Churches, hospitials, children, the elderly, and the hungry.
That is not the same as what Robert Park and Aijalon Gomes have done. The Christian entities mentioned above never mention the word repentance nor attempt to preach the Gospel while visiting. In fact, it may be argued they have strengthened the oppression of religious believers by their stooge relationship with the Juche cult. Park and Gomes both came to proclaim Christ to all Korea and to demand the opening of the borders to NGOs and relief agencies and the release of political prisoners. Park demanded that KJI repent of his sins and step down from office. You will never hear that language from the NGOs Jack is referring to.
Since you’re again talking with glowing praise for what Park did, and now apparently Mr Gomes, can you please get around to answering these questions, KCJ?
Was Robert Park’s recantation part of the plan? With the “how NK converts critical foreigners†thing you have posted several times, you seem to be indicating that you know North Korea would at least try to convert him or break him, so was the recantation part of the plan?
What do you think the end result will be of Mr Gomes and these four new naïfs traipsing into North Korea? Will they hold out longer than Robert Park? What will they eventually give up?
Do you think the DPRK and KCNA machines eating up and spitting out these people is “inspiring†to the average North Korean? Is it supposed to provide hope? Were you not expecting this as a possible outcome for Mr Park, the current 무명4, or Mr Gomes and future traipsers?
Do you think Mr Gomes and these naïfs with a Moses complex (and Park possibly with a Messiah complex) are working in a vacuum? In other words do you think their jaunts across the river affect nobody else in any way, shape, or form? In its effort to mitigate the effects of their entry into North Korea, do you not think the authorities are trying hard to plug up their porous border, thus blocking a path of escape for would-be refugees?
I have a feeling this is going to end up in tears for Mssr Gomes and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s off on a one way ticket to the salt mines.
Asians, Koreans, for whatever reason, do often have a stronger dislike of blacks compared to whites and perhaps even kyopo’s. As a result, NK judges may well impose quite a harsh sentence here, unless they consider pulling a Berkeley. A second Ali Lemada is more likely though, unless Barack feels the urge to save a brother.
Clearly, the only winner in this sorry saga is Alejandro, as – when in NK – he now probably won’t run into Mr Gomes after 7pm.