WASHINGTON/SEOUL: The United States called on North Korea on Saturday to release an elderly US military veteran held in custody since last month and who Pyongyang accused of killing civilians during the Korean War 60 years ago.
Swedish embassy officials were granted access on Saturday to visit Merrill E. Newman, the State Department said, the first access by Western officials to him since his arrest.
Newman, an 85-year old former special forces officer, was detained at the end of a trip to North Korea. Washington and Pyongyang have no diplomatic relations.
“On November 30, the DPRK permitted the Embassy of Sweden, protecting power for issues involving US citizens in North Korea, consular access to US citizen Merrill Newman,” a State Department official said in a statement.
“Given Mr. Newman’s advanced age and health conditions, we urge the DPRK to release Mr. Newman so he may return home and reunite with his family,” the official added, using the acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The White House also urged Newman’s release in a brief statement.
Earlier on Saturday, North Korea showcased Newman as a criminal, showing a video of him making a full confession and apology as if the battles of the Korean War were still raging.
The state KCNA news agency said Newman was a mastermind of clandestine operations and had confessed to being “guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government and Korean people.”
The State Department official said the US was aware of news reports that Newman had apologised but had no other information about reasons for his detention.
In the patchy video, Newman appears composed and is shown reading aloud from a handwritten statement dated Nov 9, 2013 in a wood-panelled meeting room. At the end, he bows and places a finger print on the document.
“I realise that I cannot be forgiven for my offensives (offenses) but I beg for pardon on my knees by apologising for my offensives (offenses) sincerely toward the DPRK government and the Korean people and I want not punish me (I wish not to be punished),” Newman, who has a heart rhythm disorder, was quoted as saying by KCNA.
One of the world’s most isolated states, North Korea nourishes memories of the 1950-53 war with South Korea and the United States to keep its impoverished people distracted and the family of founder Kim Il Sung in power. His grandson, Kim Jong Un, is North Korea’s current ruler.
It remains technically in a state of war with the South and with the United States because the 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
Newman, who lives in a retirement community in Palo Alto, California, was pulled off an Air Koryo flight in North Korea minutes before it was due to depart for Beijing on Oct. 26.
His wife, Lee Newman, told CNN earlier this week that her husband went to North Korea to “put some closure” on his time during the U.S. military. It was “an important part of his life,” she said.
Newman’s family had no comment yet on the developments in North Korea on Saturday.
In Pasadena, California, a yellow ribbon was attached to the front door of Jeff Newman, Merrill Newman’s son, as a symbol the family was waiting for his return home. (Reuters)
