American Merrill Newman heads for freedom, 'deported' from North Korea

[webfact]

American Merrill Newman heads for freedom, 'deported' from North Korea

(CNN) -- Merrill Newman -- the 85-year-old American detained by North Korean authorities earlier this fall -- is on a flight back to freedom after being locked up in North Korea.

The communist country "deported" the veteran of the Korean war, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported early Saturday. It coincided with a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to South Korea, where he laid a wreath in honor of those who fell in the war that pitted North against South.

Newman's son announced that he is on his way home to the United States. Neighbors have tied yellow ribbons around spots in his neighborhood in Palo Alto, California, to welcome him.

"We are absolutely delighted to confirm that Merrill Newman is on his way home after being released by the DPRK," Jeff Newman said.

"This has been a very difficult ordeal for us as a family and particularly for him," the son said, who plans to meet Newman, when he disembarks in San Francisco.

Jeff Newman also called for the release of Kenneth Bae, another American being held in North Korea.

Full story: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/07/world/asia/north-korea-american-newman/index.html

-- CNN 2013-12-07

[folium]

Home in time for Christmas...good result.

[Ulysses G.]

Good news.

[HOOD Robin]

i am very happy for this guy and his family

when are they gonna drop da bomb on that country ???

[lungbing]

And that's the American answer to everything, isn't it?

[NeverSure]

And that's the American answer to everything, isn't it?

No.

[Scott]

Don't bother feeding the troll.

[JeffreyWitty]

The situation with NK is like the Talking Heads song 'Once in a Lifetime' (same as it ever was...)

[F430murci]

Crazy little . . . Mentality and intelligence of a pre-teen thinking forced confessions written with bad grimmer would have any credibility. Someone send them a few bags of plastic army men so they can put their imaginations to good use.

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The 85-year-old American veteran who was detained for more than a month by North Korea said he was coerced into a reading a videotaped apology for hostile acts against the state and thanked all those who had helped him during his time in captivity.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I could not have done the things they had me confess to, Merrill Newman said in a statement released late Monday.

. . .

My interrogator made it clear that if I did not cooperate I could be sentenced to jail for espionage for 15 years,

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/10/21845005-us-veteran-merrill-newman-i-was-coerced-into-confession-by-north-korean-captors?lite