Washington has urged again on humanitarian grounds the release of a U.S. citizen detained by North Korea for illegal entry.

Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters that North Korea had allowed Aijalon Mahli Gomes to talk with his family in the U.S. on the telephone.

Prior to that, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Pyongyang had allowed Gomes telephone contact with his family as the detained American requested it due to health concerns.

Gomes was detained by North Korea in January on illegal entry into the communist state and was sentenced on April 6 to eight years of hard labor and fined 70-million North Korean won.