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N. Korea confirms US man held, publishes 'confession'
AFP
November 30, 2013, 7:15 pm
N. Korea confirms US man held, publishes confession AFP
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea confirmed on Saturday that an American veteran of the Korean War has been detained for "hostile acts" against the communist country and said he had released an apology confessing to his alleged crimes.
Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old from California, was held in October after entering the North "under the guise of a tourist", the country's official KCNA news agency said.
It is the first time the reclusive state has officially admitted holding Newman, whose family said he was detained on October 26 shortly before take-off from Pyongyang following a 10-day tour.
KCNA said Newman had committed crimes both as a tourist and during his participation in the Korean War six decades ago and published an apology running to nearly 600 words -- parts of it written in poor English -- in which the American allegedly confessed to his crimes.
Newman, a retired financial executive who served three years during the war, has been accused of infringing upon the "dignity and sovereignty" of the secretive state and "slandering its socialist system, quite contrary to the purpose of the tour", the report said.
The American had also masterminded espionage and subversive activities during the 1950-53 Korean War and was involved in the killing of North Korean soldiers and innocent civilians, it said.
"I realise that I cannot be forgiven for my offensives but I beg for pardon on my knees by apologising for my offensives sincerely toward the (North Korean) government and the Korean people and I want not punish me," Newman was quoted as saying by KCNA.
The Korean War veteran had intended to meet surviving soldiers and pray for the souls of the dead, KCNA said, adding he had asked his guide for help.
He had also criticised North Korea during his trip, it said.
"I will never commit the offensive act against the DPRK government and the Korean people again," Newman said in his apology.
North Korea released video showing Newman reading his apology, which was dated November 9.
Experts said North Korea might have issued the apology to accelerate judicial steps against Newman and resolve his case through dialogue.
"North Korea wants negotiations with the United States on his release," Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
"The release of Newman, probably together with another American detained earlier, may come before the end of this year if Washington sends a special envoy," he said.
Friends and relatives have said Newman, who was on an organised tour, was detained due to a "misunderstanding".
"My father is a veteran, and wanted to see the country and culture he has been interested in for years," Newman's son Jeff told CNN.
The elder Newman "arranged this with a travel agent that was recommended and said was approved by the North Korean government for travel of foreigners," the son said.
North Korea is also holding US national Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old tour operator arrested a year ago who was sentenced to 15 years' hard labour on charges of seeking to topple the government.
The court described Bae, also known by his Korean name Pae Jun-Ho, as a militant Christian evangelist who smuggled inflammatory material into the country and sought to establish a subversive base in Rason.
Last week the US special envoy on North Korea, Glyn Davies, urged Pyongyang to release detained American citizens, saying Washington was "working very hard" through the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang "to try to move this issue along".
The State Department recently issued an updated travel advisory urging Americans to avoid North Korea, which was reportedly "arbitrarily detaining US citizens and not allowing them to depart the country".
Pyongyang runs one of the world's most secretive states and independently verifying official reports is notoriously difficult.
The North's secretive communist regime is widely thought to govern the country with an iron fist, with frequent public executions and up to 200,000 political prisoners languishing in labour camps.
North Korea says U.S. citizen Merrill E. Newman is a criminal, arrested for hostile acts
SEOUL Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:10pm EST
U.S. citizen Merrill E. Newman puts his thumbprint on a piece of paper, after being taken into custody by North Korea, after entering North Korea as a tourist, at an undisclosed location in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on November 30, 2013. North Korea said on Saturday it had arrested Newman for 'hostile acts' against the state and accused him of being 'a criminal' who was involved in the killing of civilians during the 1950-53 Korean War. REUTERS-KCNA
(Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it had arrested U.S. citizen Merrill E. Newman for "hostile acts" against the state and accused him of being "a criminal" who was involved in the killing of civilians during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Newman "masterminded espionage and subversive activities against the DPRK and in this course he was involved in killings of service personnel of the Korean People's Army and innocent civilians," the North's official KCNA news agency said.
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korea is technically still at war with the South and the United States as a truce, not a peace treaty, was signed to end the Korean conflict.
"He admitted all his crimes and made an apology for them," KCNA said.
In a separate dispatch, KCNA carried what it said was a statement of apology by Newman, made after being detained.
"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.
The unit appears to refer to one of the special operations units of partisan, or irregular, fighters acting against the North.
Newman, who had been visiting North Korea as a tourist, has been held in Pyongyang since officials took him off an Air Koryo plane that was scheduled to leave the country on October 26.
Newman is a retiree from Palo Alto in California, and the U.S. State Department has refused to provide any details of the detention.
North Korea has been holding another U.S. citizen and a Christian missionary of Korean decent, arrested last year and sentenced in May to 15 years of hard labor on charges of committing hostile acts against the state. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Ju-min Park and James Pearson; Editing by Ron Popeski)
N. Korea releases ‘written apology’ of US war veteran detained for ‘espionage’
Published time: November 30, 2013 10:46
Edited time: November 30, 2013 13:37
This photo taken on November 9, 2013 and released on Novermber 30, 2013 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a written apology for the alleged crimes of US citizen Merrill Newman, written while under detention in Pyongyang, after he was detained on 26 October shortly before take-off from Pyongyang following a 10 day tour. (AFP Photo/KCNA)
North Korean media say that the detained US retiree and Korean War veteran is a “criminal” and “masterminded espionage and subversive activities” against Pyongyang. A video with the veteran reading out a written apology for his alleged crimes followed.
Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old Korean War veteran from California was detained in October. It happened after he arrived in the country "under the guise of a tourist", North Korean official KCNA news agency said.
The war veteran tried to meet up with surviving soldiers he had trained during the Korean War to fight North Korea, according to the official statement. He also allegedly admitted to killing civilians and brought an e-book criticizing North Korea.
Newman "masterminded espionage and subversive activities against the DPRK and in this course he was involved in killings of service personnel of the Korean People's Army and innocent civilians," the North's official KCNA news agency said on Saturday, adding the man "admitted all his crimes and made an apology for them.”
The agency has also released a video which shows Newman reading the apology.
"After I killed so many civilians and [North Korean] soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people," Newman said.
It wasn’t clear what would happen to the man. However, his statement ends, "If I go back to [the] USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading."
This photo taken on November 9, 2013 and released on Novermber 30, 2013 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows US citizen Merrill Newman reading a written apology for his alleged crimes both as a tourist and during his participation in the Korean War, while under detention in Pyongyang, after he was detained on 26 October shortly before take-off from Pyongyang following a 10 day tour. (AFP Photo/KCNA)
The apology can be regarded as the authorities trying to release Newman, quickly and without starting legal proceedings, Yoo Ho-Yeol, a professor of North Korea studies at Korea University in Seoul told AP.
Washington hasn’t issued any comments on the matter, despite the fact that the detention took place in October.
According to his family, Newman had been on a 10-day organized private tour of North Korea. From phone calls and postcards he sent, the trip was going well and there was no indication of any kind of problem, the veteran’s son said.
The US State Department repeatedly warned the American citizens about traveling to North Korea over hostilities existing between the two countries.
North Korea has detained at least six US citizens since 2009.
Two of them were journalists accused of trespassing and hostile acts. After they were held for four months, former US president Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to negotiate their release with former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
A few others were Americans of Korean origin accused of spreading Christianity. Korean-American missionary and tour operator Kenneth Bae was detained for over a year and in 2013 sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
