Aijalon Mahli Gomes acknowledged his wrongdoing during a trial at the Central Court on April 6, the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch.

"An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of (DPRK) against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed" according to the country's criminal code, the KCNA reports.

The DPRK said last month that it arrested Gomes, 30, of Boston on January 25 for trespassing after he crossed into the country from China. He was the fourth American to be detained in the country on charges of illegal entry in little over 12 months.

Gomes, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, had been teaching English in the Republic of Korea and no details have emerged about why he went to the DPRK.

Three other American citizens have been arrested after crossing into North Korea over the past 13 months.

AP