North and South Korean border
Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old Korean War veteran and a tourist from Palo Alto, California was detained by the North Korean government while on vacation in Asia.
Newman was arrested on his last day of touring North Korea by DPRK government officials. This happened on October 26th and a uniformed official came onto Newman’s departing flight and asked him to step off the plane. This was the last time the veteran was witnessed, according to his travel companion Bob Hmamrdla.
Jeffrey Newman, the son of the detained veteran told San Jose Mercury News reporters about how he saw his father talking with North Korean officials about the times when he used to serve in the Korean War. Newman himself was unnerved by the conversations he had with the North Koreans. However, experts believe that they may have been problematic because the Korean War ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, so the two governments are technically still at war with each other.
Merrill Newman reportedly wanted to visit North Korea because of his service in the three-year war. After his disappearance, the veteran’s family members have constantly been talking with the U.S. Department of State and the Swedish Embassy in Pyeongyang. Neither the U.S. Department of State nor the DPRK administration had publicly announced the detention of Newman; the U.S. cited privacy concerns.
Meanwhile diplomatic relations between the U.S. and North Korea have become tense over the past year when the Labor Party constantly threatened the U.S. with a pre-emptive nuclear strike. This led the United Nations to strengthen sanctions against the rogue state.
At the same time however, North Korea has been showing a very inconsistent diplomatic attitude towards South Korea. North Korean athletes and supporters will be entering South Korea to participate in the Incheon Asia Games in September. At the same time however, the North Korean military is frequently running drills and test-firing ballistic missiles near the Korean maritime border, causing great tensions on both sides of the NLL.
Back in the U.S. family members of Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae are still waiting and praying for his release. Bae has been sentenced to serve for more than a decade at a North Korean concentration camp several months ago.
