An American who was jailed for illegally crossing the border into North Korea was released after a visit to the Communist country by former US President Jimmy Carter.

NORTH KOREA said yesterday it convicted and sentenced an American man to eight years in a labour prison and a fine equivalent to €524,000 for entering the country illegally and unspecified hostile acts.

North Korean border guards detained an American missionary as soon as he walked into the communist nation in a bid to draw attention to Pyongyang’s human rights abuses, an activist said today.