North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency has reported that former U.S. president Jimmy Carter arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday afternoon.

The news agency said Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan greeted Carter at the airport.

Carter left the U.S. on a civilian airplane to secure the release of Aijalon Gomes, a U.S. citizen who has been detained in North Korea over the past eight months for entering the country illegally.

Carter is expected to leave Pyongyang with Gomes on Thursday.

It's not known whether he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his stay in Pyongyang.