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US war veteran 'deported by North Korea' | US war veteran 'deported by North Korea' |
(35 minutes later) | |
North Korea has deported a US veteran of the Korean War who had been detained in the country since October, the state-run KCNA news agency reports. | North Korea has deported a US veteran of the Korean War who had been detained in the country since October, the state-run KCNA news agency reports. |
It says Merrill Newman was expelled on "humanitarian grounds" after confessing to "crimes" against the state during the 1950-53 war and "apologising". | |
Mr Newman, 85, had been held on charges of "hostile acts" against the North, while visiting at a tourist. | |
The US State Department has welcomed the decision to free him. | |
"We are pleased that Mr Merrill Newman has been allowed to depart the DPRK (North Korea) and re-join his family. We welcome the DPRK's decision to release him," said Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman. | |
Last week, the KCNA said Mr Newman had ordered the deaths of North Korean soldiers and civilians in the Korean War. | |
Although Mr Newman did serve during the Korean War, his family says he is the victim of mistaken identity. | |
Pyongyang's state media have routinely publicised alleged apologies from previous US detainees, which cannot be independently verified, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul. | |
'Forgive me' | |
Mr Newman - a pensioner from Palo Alto, California - had been held in North Korea since being taken off a plane as he prepared to leave the country on 26 October, following a 10-day tourist visit. | |
In a video released by North Korean authorities last week, Mr Newman was shown reading his alleged apology, dated 9 November. | |
It claims he was an "adviser of the Kuwol Unit of the UN Korea 6th Partisan Regiment part of the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command" - an apparent reference to one of the special operations units acting against the North. | |
Mr Newman apparently confessed to trying to contact surviving soldiers during his trip as a tourist. | |
The statement added: "Please forgive me." | |
But Mr Newman's family said there must have been "some dreadful misunderstanding". | |
Another veteran, also named Merrill Newman, was awarded a Silver Star medal for his efforts during the Korean War. | |
The North Korean authorities have previously been accused of coercing confessions from detainees. | |
US National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden last week urged Pyongyang to release Mr Newman given his "advanced age and health conditions". | |
Washington has also been calling on North Korea to free another American, Kenneth Bae, held since November 2012 and sentenced in May to 15 years' hard labour. | |
Pyongyang said Mr Bae - described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary - had used his tourism business to plot sedition. |