US tourist Merrill Newman, with wife Lee, speaks with reporters at San Francisco International Airport, after being released from detention in North Korea. Picture: Ben Margot Source: AP
Lee Newman, right, with her husband Merrill Newman, who was detained at the end of a 10-day trip to North Korea in October. Picture: Ben Margot Source: AP
AN 85-YEAR-OLD US veteran of the Korean War who was detained for several weeks in North Korea has arrived home in California.
Merrill Newman landed in San Francisco on Saturday morning on a flight from Beijing.
Mr Newman was detained in late October at the end of a 10-day trip to North Korea, a visit that came six decades after he oversaw a group of South Korean wartime guerrillas during the 1950-53 war.
Last month, Mr Newman read from an awkwardly worded alleged confession that apologised for, among other things, killing North Koreans during the war. Analysts questioned whether the statement was coerced, and former South Korean guerrillas who had worked with Newman and fought behind enemy lines during the war disputed some of the details.
North Korea cited Mr Newman's age and medical condition in allowing him to leave the country.
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