Merrill
Newman has arrived in China after being freed from custody in North Korea. The
85-year-old Korean War veteran had been detained for a month; US Vice President
Joe Biden welcomed his release.
Speaking in
the South Korean capital Seoul, Joe Biden on Saturday praised the decision to
free Merrill E. Newman while simultaneously criticizing North Korea for
detaining the 85-year-old.
"The
DPRK today released someone they never should have had in the first
place," Biden said, using the short-form of the North's official name, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "At least there's one bright piece
of sunshine that he will be released and return to his family."
Biden, in
Seoul on the last stop of his tour of Asia, also said he "played no direct
role" in the North's decision to release Newman. Later on Saturday, the US
vice president was scheduled to visit the Demilitarized Zone separating North
and South Korea.
"I
offered him a ride home on Air Force Two, but as he pointed out, there's a
direct flight to San Francisco, so I don't blame him; I'd be on that flight
too," Biden said of the California resident.
North
Korea's official KCNA news agency reported on Saturday that Newman was deported
"from a humanitarian viewpoint," citing his "sincere
repentance," as well as his age and a heart condition. In late November,
KCNA published a "confession" and "apology" from Newman.
Newman was
arrested in October as he boarded a plane home in Pyongyang after a tourist
visit. The 85-year-old was a US Special Forces soldier during the 1950-53
Korean War, working behind the line with South Korean guerrillas who remain
particularly notorious in the North.
Biden on
Saturday also called on North Korea to release another US citizen, 45-year-old
Kenneth Bae. Bae worked as a Christian missionary in the North and was
convicted in May of crimes against the state; he was sentenced to 15 years hard labor.
msh/jr (AFP, AP, Reuters)
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