North Korea said today it has deported an elderly U.S. tourist and war veteran who was detained for more than a month after being accused of hostile acts against the country.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said it made the decision because 85-year-old Merrill Newman had apologized for his alleged crimes during the Korean War and on a recent trip to the country and because of his age and medical condition.
Newman has yet to speak publicly, and his destination today was not known. It wasn’t clear if his alleged confession shown on state TV last month was coerced.
He was taken off a plane Oct. 26 by North Korean authorities while preparing to leave the country after a 10-day tour.
A group of former South Korean guerrillas said Newman advised them as they fought behind enemy lines during the war. Some members have expressed surprise that Newman would take the risk of visiting North Korea, given his role with their group, which is still loathed in the North.
Authorities in Pyongyang claimed Newman apologized for killing North Koreans during the Korean War, for attempting to meet surviving guerrilla fighters he had trained during the conflict, and for criticizing the North during his trip.
Newman’s comments haven’t been independently confirmed. North Korea has been accused of coercing statements from detainees in the past.
Newman’s detention came as tension remains high on the Korean Peninsula. But Pyongyang has toned down its rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea recently after threatening in the spring to launch nuclear wars.
In addition to Newman, North Korea has detained at least six other Americans since 2009. Five of them have been either released or deported after prominent Americans such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter traveled to Pyongyang.
For more than a year, the country has held the sixth detainee, Korean-American missionary and tour operator Kenneth Bae, accusing him of subversion.
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