North Korea Accuses Captive U.S. Veteran of War Crimes

[Kitsune]

Feel pretty sorry for the guy although do also think what did he think might happen with visiting North Korea?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/world ... .html?_r=2&

HONG KONG — North Korea accused a captive American military veteran of war crimes, saying he was involved in the killing of innocent civilians during the Korean War, state news media reported on Saturday.

In a photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Saturday, 85-year-old Merrill Newman reads what the agency said is a written apology for his actions during the Korean War.

The veteran, Merrill E. Newman, 85, of Palo Alto, Calif., has been detained in North Korea since Oct. 26, when he was taken off a flight as he was about to leave the country. He had been visiting on a tourist visa.

The Korean Central News Agency said on Saturday that Mr. Newman had “admitted his crimes” and apologized for his actions during the war, which lasted from 1950 until 1953.

Mr. Newman, who is a retired technology executive, served as an infantryman during the war and had long wanted to revisit the country.

Mr. Newman’s son, Jeff Newman, had said that the day before his father was to leave North Korea, he had a meeting with his tour guide during which the Korean War was discussed.

The news agency said Mr. Newman had “masterminded espionage and subversive activities against the D.P.R.K., and in this course he was involved in killings of service personnel of the Korean People’s Army and innocent civilians.” The D.P.R.K. stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

KCNA also published what it said was Mr. Newman’s apology, a statement in often stilted English that described actions during the war. It also released a video in which Mr. Newman was seen reading excerpts from the statement.

‘‘During the Korean War, I have been guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government and Korean people as advisor of the Kuwol Unit of the U.N. Korea 6th Partisan Regiment part of the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command,’’ it said.

Relatives had appealed to the North Korean government to release Mr. Newman, with Jeff Newman calling the situation a “misunderstanding.” He said his father has a heart condition and a bad back and was on several medications.

Mr. Newman’s relatives were not immediately available to comment on his arrest.

The detention of Mr. Newman led the United States to issue a travel warning about visiting North Korea, saying, “U.S. citizens crossing into North Korea, even accidentally, have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention.”

North Korea continues to hold Kenneth Bae, 44, a Christian missionary who was sentenced in May to 15 years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts” against the North. Mr. Bae’s mother was recently allowed to visit him in a hospital, where he was being treated after becoming ill after working at a labor camp.

Mr. Newman was detained at the end of a nine-day trip he made to North Korea with a companion from his California retirement village. The friend, Bob Hamrdla, said Mr. Newman’s talk with the tour guide the day before his planned departure had not gone well and had left him upset.

His flight was about to take off from Pyongyang to Beijing when he was pulled off the plane.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the North Korean report.

[Mr. Coffee]

So it's Wednesday on the Korean Peninsula. Any bets on this guy getting released after someone cuts the Norks a check for "foreign aid"?

[Kitsune]

So it's Wednesday on the Korean Peninsula. Any bets on this guy getting released after someone cuts the Norks a check for "foreign aid"?

You are not considering the whole issue the right way
This is not about the US, this is effectively internal politics.
This is for public consumption inside of North Korea and effects internationally are not revelant

[Wicked Pilot]

Just to add to the info, but Mr Newman was a special forces guy who trained and advised North Korean partisans fighting behind the lines during the war. After the war was over some were able to defect to the south. He may have been trying to gather info on their families while in the North, which would have been what tipped off the DPRK to his background. He almost got away with it too, with them only at the last minute pulling him off the plane on his way out.

[Thanas]

This is complete and utter BS North Korea tries to pull here but then again, this is the same state that thought putting torpedoes in the warship of its neighbour is a good thing.

[Broomstick]

I think it's all part of the North Korean viewpoint that the war never ended, it's just on a prolonged time-out. Within that viewpoint, Mr Newman is an enemy combatant and now a prisoner of war. This is in contrast to the US view that the Korean War is past history.

I also think this is primarially for internal North Korean consumption - "See! We captured one of the enemy and will make an example of him!" with the usual callous disregard for how outsiders will see it and disregard for the individual.

Here in the US there are folks saying he should be given back because he's a grandfather and needs to be with his family. I don't think those people realize that in North Korea when someone runs afoul of the government not just them but their family for three generations out are imprisoned.... so by that rule of thumb I could see the Norks saying if Mr. Newman should be with his family they (the North Koreans) are willing to incarcerate his family, including the grandchildren, as well as Mr. Newman. I doubt they will actually say that, though.

[Mr. Coffee]

So it's Wednesday on the Korean Peninsula. Any bets on this guy getting released after someone cuts the Norks a check for "foreign aid"?

You are not considering the whole issue the right way
This is not about the US, this is effectively internal politics.
This is for public consumption inside of North Korea and effects internationally are not revelant

You misunderstand me, Kitsune. It's not that I don't consider such things. I just don't really give a fuck and after years of this same shit happening, followed by us or someone else giving the Norks a cookie, I understand that this is indeed trypical enough of North Korean behavior that it's as regular as the days of the week. Seriously, I could probably set a calendar to it.

[Kitsune]

So it's Wednesday on the Korean Peninsula. Any bets on this guy getting released after someone cuts the Norks a check for "foreign aid"?

You are not considering the whole issue the right way
This is not about the US, this is effectively internal politics.
This is for public consumption inside of North Korea and effects internationally are not revelant

You misunderstand me, Kitsune. It's not that I don't consider such things. I just don't really give a fuck and after years of this same shit happening, followed by us or someone else giving the Norks a cookie, I understand that this is indeed trypical enough of North Korean behavior that it's as regular as the days of the week. Seriously, I could probably set a calendar to it.

I agree that this shit is normal for them just sound like you thought this was for external consumption

[Ahriman238]

Bit of an update, seems the old guy's at least getting humane treatment. At least, when people are watching.

The family of the 85-year-old Palo Alto man who's been detained for more than a month in North Korea says he is being well fed and is getting his medication.

Retired finance executive Merrill Newman's family released a statement late Saturday that said the Ambassador of Sweden was permitted to visit him Saturday at the Yanggakdo Hotel in Pyongyang.

"As a result of the visit, we know that Merrill is in good health. He has received the medications that we sent him and medical personnel are checking on his health several times a day," the family statement said.

It also said that he was being well treated and even reported that the food he was being feed was "good."

"As you can imagine, we had been deeply worried about all of these things and today's consular visit has eased our concerns," the family statement read in part.

The family's report came hours after North Korea state media released video showing Newman reading an apology for alleged crimes during the Korean War and for "hostile acts'' against the state during a recent trip.

Newman, who fought in the Korean War, was taken off a plane Oct. 26 by North Korean authorities while preparing to leave after a 10-day visit.

Also Saturday, the U.S. again urged North Korea to release Newman.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden says that given Newman's age and health-- he's on heart medication--North Korea should release him so he can be reunited with his family.

Newman's traveling companion, neighbor and former Stanford University professor Bob Hamrdla, was allowed to depart.

Newman's son, who lives in Southern California, has said his father wanted to return to the country where he spent three years during the war.

Here is the family's complete statement:

We received a report from the State Department today that the Ambassador of Sweden in the DPRK was permitted to visit Merrill Newman on Saturday, November 30th, at the Yanggakdo Hotel in Pyongyang.

We were very pleased to hear that the Ambassador was allowed to pay this first visit to Merrill. We want to thank the Swedish Ambassador and also express appreciation for the cooperation of the DPRK government in allowing the visit to take place. As a result of the visit, we know that Merrill is in good health. He has received the medications that we sent him and medical personnel are checking on his health several times a day. Merrill reports that he is being well treated and that the food is good. As you can imagine, we had been deeply worried about all of these things and today's consular visit has eased our concerns.

Our focus now is on getting him home quickly to join his loved ones, who miss him deeply. We are asking that the DPRK authorities take into account his health and his age and, as an act of humanitarian compassion, allow him to depart immediately for home. All of us want this ordeal to end and for the 85 year-old head of our extended family to be with us once more.

Thank you,

The Newman Family

North Korea state media claims Newman apologized for alleged crimes during the war and for "hostile acts'' against the North during his trip.

North Korean authorities released video showing Newman, wearing glasses, a blue button-down shirt and tan trousers, reading his alleged apology, which was dated Nov. 9 and couldn't be independently confirmed. Pyongyang has been accused of previously coercing statements from detainees. There was no way to reach Newman and determine the circumstances of the alleged confession. But it was riddled with stilted English and grammatical errors, such as "I want not punish me.''

The apology can be seen as Pyongyang taking steps needed to release Newman, said Yoo Ho-Yeol, a professor of North Korea studies at Korea University in Seoul. North Korea likely issued the confession in the form of an apology to resolve Newman's case quickly without starting legal proceedings, Yoo said.

North Korea is extremely sensitive about any criticism and regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of seeking to overthrow its authoritarian system through various means _ claims the U.S. and South Korea dismiss. The State Department has repeatedly warned Americans about traveling to the country, citing the risk of arbitrary detention.

Whatever the reasons behind the detention, it could hurt impoverished North Korea's efforts to encourage a growing tourism trade seen as a rare source of much-needed foreign currency.

Tourism is picking up in North Korea, despite strong warnings from the State Department, most recently this week. Americans travel there each year, many as part of humanitarian efforts or to find long-lost relatives or to see a closed society few outsiders get to visit.

Yeah, and somehow I never quite trust it when native English-speakers confess to war-crimes in broken English. I don't know, I'm cynical that way.

[Broomstick]

He's back home now. According to him, now that he's home, he was held in a hotel room and his biggest problem was being bored, so apparently he was treated well - aside from the whole kidnapping thing. When asked about the "confession" he said, basically, that's obviously not my English and sort of smirked.

I'm guessing that as soon as he was taken off the airplane he offered no resistance, cooperated fully, gave 'em what they wanted for internal consumption, and then the North Koreans, being done with him, sent him back home.