Why North Korea Is Holding American Citizen And Korean Vet Merrill E. Newman

'He Was A Very Bad Guy For Them': American Prisoner In North Korea Was In Charge Of Top Secret Force Training Guerrillas Who Fought Behind Enemy Lines During Korean War -- Daily Mail

* Merrill E. Newman, 85, has been detained in North Korea for more than four weeks after he was pulled off a flight leaving the country on October 26
* He was a 'White Tiger' adviser to the 'Kuwol' Partisan Regiment, an anti-communist force who fought deep behind enemy lines in the Korean War
* Former members say they were 'working, fighting and engaging in espionage' alongside Newman
* They say he should not have returned to North Korea as they view him as a spy and war criminal there
* The Kuwolsan soldiers are well known in South Korea, depicted in popular culture as heroes in the fight against communism
* North Korean government said Saturday Newman was arrested for being a 'criminal involved in the killing of civilians' during the war
* They released video of him shaking as he read four-page handwritten letter admitting to his 'criminal offences'
* It is not known if he was coerced to do so
* Newman is the sixth American to be detained in North Korea since 2009

In September 1953, a group of anti-communist guerrillas presented U.S. serviceman Merrill Edward Newman with a gold ring.

For Newman, 85, the ring became a proud symbol of the role he played as an adviser to a group of battle-hardened partisans who fought deep behind enemy lines in a war that pitted the China- and Soviet-backed North against the U.S.-backed South.

Now, six decades on, the pensioner, who lives in a retirement community in California, has become one of the last prisoners of that war.

Read more ....

Update: North Korea parades its American prisoner in chilling 'confession' video: Vet 'apologizes' for allegedly killing civilians 60 years ago -- Daily Mail

My Comment: If these reports on Merril Newman's past involvement in the Korea war are true .... he should never have visited North Korea. What was he thinking?