N Korea deports 85-year-old American held for spying

North Korea deported an 85-year-old American veteran detained for more than a month on accusations of running a spy network set up during the Korean War.

Merrill E. Newman entered North Korea “under the guise of a tourist to confirm the whereabouts of the spies and terrorists who had been trained and dispatched by him, an intelligence officer, during the last Korean War,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported today, referring to the conflict that ended in 1953. He was released on humanitarian grounds after admitting his crimes, KCNA said.

“It’s a positive thing they’ve done,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in Seoul, where he was on the last day of a three-country Asian visit. Biden offered Newman, who traveled to China after his release, a lift back to the U.S. on Air Force 2. Newman declined the ride, preferring to take a commercial flight that left sooner.

Biden was in South Korea amid rising tensions in the region over China unilaterally declaring a new air defense zone and North Korea’s growing nuclear threat. China’s move wouldn’t affect U.S. military operations in the region and the U.S. would “not accept or tolerate” a nuclear-armed North Korea, he said after meeting South Korean President Park Geun Hye yesterday.

The North has periodically detained Americans, sometimes bartering their release for concessions from the U.S. Newman was removed from his plane as it was about to take off from Pyongyang for his return flight on Oct. 26 after he spent 10 days touring North Korea. His wife and son in California had been publicly campaigning on his behalf. Biden said he “played no direct” role in Newman’s release.

The release prompted Biden to call for North Korea to free Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary and tour guide who has been held for more than a year on charges of committing hostile acts. Bae was sentenced to 15 years hard labor after a trial on April 30. He first worked in the fields at a labor camp until he was moved to a hospital sometime in August because of deteriorating health.

ANN.Az