The U.S. has denied reports that it rejected North Korea’s request to have a high-ranking U.S. official visit Pyongyang to discuss the release of an American detained by North Korea.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told a regular news briefing Wednesday that he was not aware of such a request.

Radio Free Asia previously reported that North Korea asked the U.S. to send an envoy to discuss the release of Aijalon Gomes.

Gomes, an American teacher from Boston, was detained by North Korea in January for entering the country illegally. In May, he was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and given a fine of 700-thousand U.S. dollars.