North Korea has sentenced a US citizen to eight years' hard labour for illegally entering the country, its state news agency KCNA has said.

朝鲜中央通讯社报道，朝鲜判处一名非法入境的美国公民8年强迫劳役。

Gomes reportedly admitted his wrongdoing in court

The man, named as 30-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes, from Boston, admitted his wrongdoing（不道德的行为，坏事） in court, KCNA reported.

Gomes had worked as an English teacher in South Korea, and reportedly crossed the border from China on 25 January.

Swedish diplomats¹ were allowed to attend the trial, as the US has no diplomatic presence in North Korea.

Gomes, described by colleagues as a devout²（虔诚的，衷心的） Christian³, was also fined 70 million won ($700,000; £460,000). It is not clear why he entered North Korea.

Goodwill⁴ gesture?

Despite the jail sentence, analysts⁵ suggested Gomes could be freed before too long as Pyongyang tries improve bilateral⁶（双边的） relations with the US.

"The North is not going to hold him for eight years," Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University told AFP news agency.

"It is likely to suspend the implementation⁷（履行，实现） of the sentence and expel（驱逐，开除） him as a goodwill gesture toward the United States."

Gomes was the fourth American citizen to be accused of entering the country in the past year. In February, North Korea freed Robert Park, who had entered the country from China by walking over a frozen river.

He had reportedly wanted to highlight human rights issues in North Korea, but was said before his release to have admitted his "mistake".

Last year two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were also arrested by North Korea on the border with China.

They were sentenced to 12 years' hard labour but freed in August after four months in captivity⁸（囚禁，被关） , as part of a diplomatic mission spearheaded（先锋，带头） by former US President Bill Clinton.