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Amercian war veteran being held in North Korea

 
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catman



Joined: 18 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:24 am    Post subject: Amercian war veteran being held in North Korea Reply with quote

Quote:
An 85-year-old American man on an organized tour of North Korea was pulled off a departing plane in Pyongyang just minutes before it was to depart, the man's son told CNN on Wednesday.

The family has had no contact with Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, California, since he was detained on October 26, his son Jeff Newman said.

"This is a misunderstanding. My father is a (Korean War) veteran and wanted to see the country and culture he has been interested in for years," Jeff Newman said. "He arranged this with a travel agent that was recommended and said was approved by the North Korean government for travel of foreigners. He had all the proper visas."

The U.S. State Department is working to resolve the matter with North Korea's top ally, China.

Ambassador Glyn Davies, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Policy, met in Beijing for several hours on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart.

"We are working very hard ... to try to move this issue along," Davies said, following the session. "We certainly think that North Korea should think long and hard about (this) and understand that for the United States this is a matter of core concern for us."

The relationship between North Korea and Washington has been especially testy in recent years as the United States and other world powers have tried to limit the nation's nuclear ambitions.

This "is an indication that North Korea seems not to be seeking a better relationship with United States," Davies said. "They are not taking action to address our concerns."

Jeff Newman said his family has been working through the State Department since they found out that his father was being held.

"We've worked through the State Department from the day he was supposed to depart," Newman said later on CNN's AC360. "...We've heard nothing."

What Newman said he has heard has primarily come from his father's traveling companion, who was on the plane when he was taken off. He identified the traveling companion as Bob Hamrdla, a friend who lives in the same retirement community.

North Korea has not publicly acknowledged it detained Newman. But the family believes the elder Newman's military service during the Korean War may be related to his detention, his son said.

Park Syung-je, chairman of the Seoul-based Asia Strategy Institute, says Newman may have been arrested on espionage charges.

As a Korean War veteran, Newman might have told his minders he fought against North Korea. They likely reported it, and it resulted in his detention.

Pyongyang previously announced that the safety of Americans cannot be guaranteed on North Korean soil.



Full Article

Surprised this is just coming out now.
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Popocatepetl



Joined: 14 Oct 2013
Location: Winter in Korea: One Perfect day after another

PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they will reunite him with some of his mates.

Quote:
Last Seen Alive: The Search for Missing POWs from the Korean War by Laurence Jolidon. Inkslinger Press, Austin, Texas, 1995, 346 pages, $15.00.

Last Seen Alive is the compelling tale of the investigation into the fate of hundreds of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were captured by Communist forces during the Korean War (1950-53) and never returned. These men are believed to have been held by the Communist forces of the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, and North Korea following the armistice in July 1953, in violation of the terms of the prisoner exchange. In his book, investigative journalist Laurence Jolidon carefully weaves both the fragments of information made public during the cold war and the torrents of data released after the fall of the Soviet Union, and he makes a compelling case that American servicemen were retained after the war-some in the Soviet Union, some in China, and some in North Korea. He also asserts that the government of the United States has not aggressively and completely investigated this issue but has allowed it to fade quietly from public view in order to advance other foreign-relations objectives.

Over 2.2 million American men and women served in the Korean theater during the war, and thousands were captured by the Communist forces. Most were returned during the prisoner exchanges in 1953, but the American government soon realized that thousands of service members known to be prisoners of war (POW) were not repatriated.
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another nail in the coffin for North Korea. Could we make a trade with some of the North Korean sympathizers here on the forum?
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Lucas



Joined: 11 Sep 2012

PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think he offended them at the norrebang with his rendition of 'born in the USA!'

Hopefully they let him go soon. The article did say he had a medical condition and his family was trying to get more meds to him...

Maybe he had some complications and something bad happened. The Norks will only have kept him as a bargaining chip, which will have backfired spectacularly if he had a medical 'complication' whilst there...
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That'd be one of my worries about going there - get a bit flip with an answer, find yourself charged with insulting the supreme master. Rolling Eyes
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Leon



Joined: 31 May 2010

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Captain Corea wrote:
That'd be one of my worries about going there - get a bit flip with an answer, find yourself charged with insulting the supreme master. Rolling Eyes


You're Canadian, no? There would be no strategic value to kidnapping you.
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Popocatepetl



Joined: 14 Oct 2013
Location: Winter in Korea: One Perfect day after another

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
As a Korean War veteran, Newman might have told his minders he fought against North Korea. They likely reported it, and it resulted in his detention.

Pyongyang previously announced that the safety of Americans cannot be guaranteed on North Korean soil.


You have to admit its pretty dumb to go to a country that is your declared enemy, which has openly announced that your safety cannot be garuanteed, and tell them that you are on a tour to reminisce about when you used to kill them.
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
You have to admit its pretty dumb to go to a country that is your declared enemy, which has openly announced that your safety cannot be garuanteed, and tell them that you are on a tour to reminisce about when you used to kill them.


Not to mention...

Quote:
It's unclear what led to Newman's detention Oct. 26. His son, Jeffrey Newman, said that he heard from Bob Hamrdla, Newman's traveling companion who was allowed to return to the U.S., that before Newman was detained he had had a "difficult" discussion with North Korean officials about his experiences during the 1950-53 war between U.S.-led United Nations forces and North Korea and ally China.



Even if the Norks were trying to bait him into arguing about the war, the only safe response is to smile and nod at whatever they say.

link
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Leon wrote:
Captain Corea wrote:
That'd be one of my worries about going there - get a bit flip with an answer, find yourself charged with insulting the supreme master. Rolling Eyes


You're Canadian, no? There would be no strategic value to kidnapping you.


Maybe hoping for a ransom in maple syrup?
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Leon



Joined: 31 May 2010

PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Captain Corea wrote:
Leon wrote:
Captain Corea wrote:
That'd be one of my worries about going there - get a bit flip with an answer, find yourself charged with insulting the supreme master. Rolling Eyes


You're Canadian, no? There would be no strategic value to kidnapping you.


Maybe hoping for a ransom in maple syrup?


I don't know, I heard that there was a major amount of the strategic maple syrup reserves being stolen. Might not be enough left.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/business/arrests-made-in-maple-syrup-theft-from-quebec-warehouse.html?_r=0
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Newman confesses
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Popocatepetl



Joined: 14 Oct 2013
Location: Winter in Korea: One Perfect day after another

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the other hand wrote:
Newman confesses

Quote:
As I gave 300 people with barbarity gone to the South who had ill feelings toward the DPRK from Chodo military education and guerilla training they later did attack against the DPRK although the armistice was signed.




This is the first time they've used babelfish.
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catman



Joined: 18 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Newman Released

Looking forward to hearing his side of the story.
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Popocatepetl



Joined: 14 Oct 2013
Location: Winter in Korea: One Perfect day after another

PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

catman wrote:

Looking forward to hearing his side of the story.


He seems pretty light-lipped but did say he was grateful to the North Korean Govt for letting him go.

Utter folly.
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