N Korea deports elderly U.S. tourist

I suppose that the North wants thanks for being so magnanimous....

We should all say in unison "You guys are NUMBER ONE!" (While simultaneously raising our middle fingers...)

I thought U.S. passports have a statement in them stating that the passport is not valid for travel to North Korea so why is it that he could go there?

Glad he was released. Going to NK was not a good idea. Into the belly of the beast.

What a despicable country.

Damn! I would have taken that once in a life time chance to fly home on Air Force 2!

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is traveling in Seoul, welcomed the release and said he talked by phone with Newman in Beijing, offering him a ride home on Air Force Two.

Why would you offer that Joe? Why would you want to reward someone who quite selfishly created a diplomatic problem for his country? I'm certain that there's a hidden cost to his reward and the DPRK got something out of it from us whether it's some under-the-table concession or actual cash. People like this, who find themselves unwilling guests of countries with which the US has no diplomatic relations or in this case is still technically at war with because they chose to go there, should be left to their fates. There's no sense in wasting precious diplomatic currency on fools like Newman. It's not worth it.

What a small-minded, vindictive, petty & unreasonable little government!

"Vice President Joe Biden, who is traveling in Seoul, welcomed the release and said he talked by phone with Newman in Beijing, offering him a ride home on Air Force Two. Biden said Newman declined because of a direct flight to his home state of California later Saturday."

Heck, why fly all the way to Washington D.C. from Asia and then have to take another flight all the way back to California when you can fly direct to California?

This idiot old geezer is a trouble maker! If he was in the war and supposedly helped insurgents etc..and what the heck was he thinking going back there?? and to argue with the North Koreans?? PENDEJO!! Sorry, but this old fool is too stupid for his own good, and the USA should not be paying even 1 cent for old idiot fools like this that go and get themselves into trouble in messed up countries that the USA had NO diplomatic relations with and REWARD this old fool with a free plane trip back on AirForce 2?? All thanks to OUR TAX $$$!!!

I think he wanted USA understand he is coerced by writing in " an awkwardly worded alleged confession" Either he wrote dictated sentences or he purposedly wrote with none "American people writing style (Broken English) errortically. Well, unlike Chinese, S. Koreanm and Japanese countries, N. Korea do not send their peole to study in USA schools. /Maybe China realized that he was ceoerced and so demanded N. Korea to release him before N. Koread makes fool in the world. Jusst my thought.

Gives the north's leader the "Hawaii happiness gesture" with my hand

The KCNA claims that Newman "entered the DPRK 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".

I think he was not interested in going back to Calif on his own. Free ride and plenty interviews income. Then get partial profit from book writers on his spy career and N. Korea experience. He was not mistreated in the most lusury hotel. Maybe that was his plan to enter N. Korea.