Susana Bates/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Merrill Newman with his wife, Lee, and son, Jeff, after arriving at the airport in San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO — Ending more than a month of captivity in North Korea, an 85-year-old American veteran returned to the United States on Saturday, soon after the North let him go, citing his "sincere repentance" for his actions during the Korean War.
The sudden release ended a dramatic odyssey in which the veteran, Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, Calif., found himself whisked off a plane by North Korean security on the last day of a guided tour to the reclusive police state in October.
After his release, Mr. Newman first flew to Beijing, then to San Francisco, where he was greeted Saturday morning by his wife and son.
"It's been a great homecoming," Mr. Newman said, smiling. "I'm tired, but I'm with my family. Thank you all for the support we got."
As his son, Jeff, and security officials led him away, he fielded questions from a couple of dozen reporters. Despite his captivity and the long flight, Mr. Newman displayed flashes of wit in his short answers.
Asked what he would do once he got home, he said, "I think I'll be taking my shoes off."
Asked to describe the food in North Korea, he said, "Healthy."
Asked whether he would return there, he said, "Probably not."
Mr. Newman did not answer any questions about the time he was held in the North, where he had gone to revisit his Korean War past.
North Korea decided to release him after Mr. Newman read a stilted apology a week earlier in which he expressed regret for his actions during the war and during his visit to the country. While serving in Korea, Mr. Newman helped train anti-Communist guerrillas, working with a unit that was particularly despised by North Korea for its daring raids on its territory.
On his visit, at least according to the apology and an email released by North Korea, he planned to try to meet any surviving guerrillas and connect them with their old comrades in the South. North Korea, which considers itself under threat from outside forces, maintains rigid control over its citizens, who are generally allowed to know little of the world beyond their border.
Mr. Newman was removed from his flight out of the country on Oct. 26, a day after North Koreans interviewed him about his wartime activities, according to his family. A friend who was with him on the tour was allowed to return home.
When Mr. Newman arrived in Beijing on Saturday morning, he praised North Korean officials "for the tolerance the government has given me to be on my way," according to The Associated Press.
Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul, said he believed Mr. Newman's age was a key reason that North Korea released him.
"It has likely realized that it cannot hold such an old man too long without getting international condemnation," Mr. Kim said. "It also wanted to show to the outside world that it could be flexible, and respected humanitarian concerns."
American Embassy officials met Mr. Newman when he landed in Beijing on a flight from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and they bought him a ticket to San Francisco. An embassy medical officer also brought a supply of Mr. Newman's medications to him and confirmed that he was well enough to fly home.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was in Seoul meeting South Korean leaders when Mr. Newman was released, called North Korea's decision to set him free "a positive thing."
Mr. Biden said he had offered Mr. Newman a ride back to the United States on Air Force Two, but that he had decided to fly home directly to get there faster. "I don't blame him," Mr. Biden said. "I'd be on that flight, too."
Mr. Biden also reminded reporters that North Korea continues to hold Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary who was sentenced in May to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the North.
Mr. Bae's family issued a statement expressing both excitement about Mr. Newman's release and anxiety about the fate of Mr. Bae, who has had numerous health problems during his incarceration, including diabetes, kidney stones and back pain.
Norimitsu Onishi reported from San Francisco, and Gerry Mullany from Hong Kong. Choe Sang-Hun contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea; Jane Perlez from Beijing; and Rick Gladstone from New York.
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