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North Korea Accuses Detained U.S. Veteran of War Crimes North Korea Releases Video of Veteran Admitting to ‘Hostile Acts’
(about 4 hours later)
BEIJING — North Korea accused an elderly American veteran of war crimes, and released a video Saturday of him confessing to “hostile acts” during the Korean War and while he was a tourist there last month. BEIJING — North Korea has accused an American veteran of war crimes and on Saturday released a video of him confessing to “hostile acts” during the Korean War and while he was visiting the country in October.
The veteran, Merrill Newman, 85, of Palo Alto, Calif., who has been held since Oct. 26, appeared on the video dressed in a blue American-style shirt and wearing rimless spectacles as he read excerpts from the apology from several sheets of white paper. The veteran, Merrill Newman, 85, of Palo Alto, Calif., who has been held since Oct. 26, appeared on the video dressed in casual Western clothes and wearing glasses as he read excerpts from the apology from several sheets of white paper.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency released a full text of the apology, in which he asked for forgiveness. The agency said in a separate statement that Mr. Newman was involved in the killing of innocent civilians during the Korean War. In the apology, Mr. Newman said he was an adviser for the Kuwol Unit of the United Nations Korea Sixth Partisan Regiment that served with the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command.
Mr. Newman, a retired technology executive and a world traveler, went to North Korea on a trip organized by a licensed tour group to fulfill a longtime desire to see the country where he had served as an infantry officer during the Korean War, his family said. A person familiar with Mr. Newman’s military record and his current situation in captivity in North Korea said that Mr. Newman served as an adviser in that unit in 1953 before the armistice. The unit operated behind the lines of the Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteers, but Mr. Newman conducted his duties as an adviser on Chodo, an island off the west coast of what is now North Korea, the person said. In the beginning of the video, Mr. Newman mentioned Chodo as the place where he was stationed. The person speaking about Mr. Newman’s situation declined to be named because of the delicacy of the case.
There was no indication from North Korea what the next steps would be. The State Department had no immediate comment. In the apology Mr. Newman describes how he wanted to meet “surviving soldiers and pray for the souls of the dead soldiers” involved in the Korean War. If he met any surviving soldiers he planned to put them in touch with members of the Kuwol Partisan Comrades-in-Arms Association who had escaped to South Korea, the apology said.
In the written apology, which was dated Nov. 9, Mr. Newman is quoted saying: “If I go back to U.S.A., I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.” The DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Mr. Newman described how he had asked his tour guide to look for families and relatives of the Comrades-in-Arms group, which is described in the apology as “an anti-Communist strategic plot organization.”
The reference of a possible return to the United States could be interpreted as a sign that the North Koreans were considering sending Mr. Newman home, according to a person familiar with the case and North Korea. The person declined to be identified because of the sensitivities of the matter. An email from Mr. Newman to friends in South Korea telling them of his impending trip to North Korea and his hopes of meeting with relatives of the partisan group is embedded in the video of the apology.
The apology, written in disjointed English, contained details of what Mr. Newman supposedly did during his tour of duty in the Korean War. The Korean Central News Agency released a full text of the apology, in which Mr. Newman asked for forgiveness. He was under detention when he read the statement, which contained grammatical errors and unusual English constructions.
“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 UN Korea 6th Partisan Regiment part of the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command,” the apology said. “As I killed so many civilians and KPA soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people,” the apology said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or D.P.R.K., is North Korea’s official name.
The written apology signed by Mr. Newman says he asked his guide to look for surviving soldiers from an action that he participated in against the Korean Peoples Army, and that he had brought into North Korea an “e-book criticizing the Socialist DPRK.” Mr. Newman, a retired technology executive and a world traveler, went to North Korea on a trip organized by a licensed tour group to fulfill a longtime desire to see the country where he had served as an infantry officer, his family said.
Mr. Newman was pulled off a plane on Oct. 26 as it was preparing to leave North Korea for Beijing. Something appeared to have gone awry on the last full day of Mr. Newman’s tour when he was asked to talk to one of his tour guides in the presence of another North Korean and without his traveling companion, a fellow retiree from California, said his son, Jeff Newman. There was no indication from North Korea what the next steps in his case would be. The State Department had no immediate comment.
The two retirees traveled with two Korean guides on a trip organized by the London-based Juche Travel Services, an outfit that says it appeals to “smart, independent” travelers. In the written apology, which was dated Nov. 9, Mr. Newman is quoted as saying: “If I go back to USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.”
Mr. Newman told his traveling companion, Bob Hamrdla, that the conversation had not gone well and he had a bad feeling about it, the son said. The fact that Mr. Newman made a televised apology could lead to his release fairly soon, said Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea and the author of “The Real North Korea.”
“So far, such public acts of repentance have usually been followed by the release of those detained, and this is likely to happen again,” Mr. Lankov said.
An American Christian missionary, Robert Park, who crossed into North Korea in December 2009 and was held for more than a month, was released shortly after he signed an apology, Mr. Lankov said.
Mr. Newman was pulled off a plane on Oct. 26 as it was preparing to leave North Korea for Beijing. Something appeared to have gone awry on the last full day of Mr. Newman’s tour when he was asked to talk to one of his tour guides in the presence of another North Korean and without his traveling companion, a fellow retiree from California, said his son, Jeff Newman, shortly after his father’s detention.
Jeff Newman had appealed to the North Korean government for the return of his father so that he could be home for Thanksgiving. Attempts to reach him on Saturday were unsuccessful.
The two American retirees traveled in North Korea with two Korean guides on a trip organized by the London-based Juche Travel Services, an outfit that says it appeals to “smart, independent” travelers.
Mr. Newman told his traveling companion, Bob Hamrdla, that the conversation had not gone well and that he had a bad feeling about it, Mr. Newman’s son has said.
The State Department’s special envoy for North Korea, Glyn T. Davies, said in Tokyo last week that the United States was considering strengthening economic sanctions against Pyongyang, a threat that was partly in response to the situation involving Mr. Newman.The State Department’s special envoy for North Korea, Glyn T. Davies, said in Tokyo last week that the United States was considering strengthening economic sanctions against Pyongyang, a threat that was partly in response to the situation involving Mr. Newman.
After Mr. Newman’s detention, the State Department stiffened its travel advisory, warning Americans they could be subject to arbitrary arrest if they went to North Korea as tourists.After Mr. Newman’s detention, the State Department stiffened its travel advisory, warning Americans they could be subject to arbitrary arrest if they went to North Korea as tourists.
An estimated 9,000 Western and about 30,000 Chinese tourists went last year to North Korea, a destination that attracts people curious about life under the nuclear-armed, absolutist authoritarian regime. Last year, an estimated 9,000 Western and about 30,000 Chinese tourists visited North Korea.
American veterans of the Korean War have previously visited North Korea on guided tours, similar to the one Mr. Newman was on, and have not run into trouble, American officials said.American veterans of the Korean War have previously visited North Korea on guided tours, similar to the one Mr. Newman was on, and have not run into trouble, American officials said.
The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and has been dealing with Mr. Newman’s situation through the representative power in Pyongyang, Sweden. The Newman family sent medicines for his heart condition through the Swedes, but never received word whether Mr. Newman received them. The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and has been dealing with Mr. Newman’s situation through the Swedish Embassy, which represents its interests in North Korea. The Newman family sent medicines for his heart condition through the Swedes, but never received word about whether Mr. Newman received them.
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.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 allowed to visit her son in a hospital where he was recovering from illnesses after hard work at a labor camp. But a trip to Pyongyang by a senior American official, Robert King, to bring Mr. Bae home in August was suddenly canceled by the regime. Mr. Bae’s mother was allowed to visit her son in a hospital in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, where he has been convalescing since the summer because of poor health and severe weight loss.
But a trip to Pyongyang by a senior American official, Robert King, to secure Mr. Bae’s release in August was suddenly canceled by the North Korean government.