An American who said he crossed illegally into North Korea denounced the United States political and economic system Sunday morning at a press conference in that country . The man said he was Arturo Pierre Martinez , 29 , a U.S. citizen raised in El Paso , Texas . Martinez 's mother , Patricia Eugenia Martinez of El Paso , said their son was bipolar and earlier tried to enter North Korea by swimming across a river , only to be stopped and shipped back to the United States , where he was placed in a California psychiatric hospital . `` Then he got out , '' she said . `` He is very smart and he got the court to let him out and instead of coming home to us he bought a ticket and left for China . He took out a payday loan online and left for China . '' She said the U.S. Embassy in Beijing is looking for him . `` My son is very intelligent , '' she said . `` He said he wanted to protect Latinos and he worried about the world and about people . At 15 he obtained his computer certificate . He loves to read and write and work on the computer . He loved to help poor people . He is our only child . '' Later she released a statement that said : `` I 'm glad and relieved that my son is safe . I am appreciative to the North Korean authorities for pardoning my son and releasing him . I look forward to spending Christmas with him after they release him . '' When asked how she knew her son was being released , she said it was from reading the press conference statement . But the legal status of Martinez in North Korea is unclear and it 's unknown if he 's free to leave the country . In his 4,000-word statement , Martinez admitted committing a crime by illegally entering the country but said he was `` extremely grateful for having been pardoned from the punishments given to violators of these laws , and for the most generous reception I have received . '' He delivered his statement at a press conference he said he requested . Images released by North Korea showed him wearing a suit and sitting in a room facing a large group of people . North Korea said in a separate statement that Martinez entered the country in November , two days after American diplomat James Clapper arrived . Clapper negotiated the release of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller , the last two American citizens known to be held by North Korea . They arrived back in the United States on November 8 . Martinez said he first tried to cross over from South Korea 's Han River and tried again from China 's Yalu River in Dandong . He went on to criticize American politicians and police as well as the electoral and prison systems . `` The illegal war carried out against the nation of Iraq serves as a perfect example of how the U.S. government acts much like a Mafia enterprise , but criminally plundering entire nations of their resources , strategic reserves and economies instead of smaller scale business and individuals , and does so without a code of ethics , '' he said . He said the electoral system in the United States `` is unfairly built for the benefit of the wealthy through the necessity of costly fundraising for political candidates seeking office . The democracy of this nation is an illusion and its representatives act as nothing more than power brokers for those who can offer them . '' Of the wealthy people in the United States , he said , `` These billionaires in power are nothing short of sociopathic megalomaniacs on the path to absolute world domination . '' He also talked about unidentified flying objects , CIA involvement in the cocaine trade , `` ultrasonic '' devices that cause people to hear voices and experience bodily discomfort and how the Western news media unfairly portrayed North Korea .
The man is identified as Arturo Pierre Perez , 28 , of El Paso , Texas . His mother says her son is bipolar and has been in a psychiatric hospital . In a statement , he says he crossed illegally into North America . He criticized the American political and economic system in the statement .