http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=EBDE0559-FD79-DE5B-1A28D8384CFFBCE8 North Korea releases U.S. tourist Merrill Newman
By: Jonathan Allen
December 6, 2013 09:01 PM EST
North Korea has released 85-year-old American tourist Merrill Newman, who had been detained for more than a month, according to the State Department.
“We welcome the DPRK’s decision to release him,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a Friday night statement using the initials of North Korea’s official name — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The State Department used the moment to call on North Korea to set free another American citizen who is being held prisoner.
“This positive decision by the DPRK throws into sharper relief the continuing detention of Mr. Kenneth Bae, who has been in DPRK custody for over a year. We call on the DPRK once again to pardon and grant Mr. Bae special amnesty and immediately release him as a humanitarian gesture so that he too can return home to his family,” Harf said. “The U.S. government will continue to work actively on his case.”
