North Korea detains traveler from Palo Alto, 85 [View all]

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Palo Alto resident Merrill Newman, 85, is an adventurous traveler who has flown and sailed around the world, according to friends.

But word that the retiree's latest and perhaps boldest trip met trouble - with Newman in custody Wednesday in North Korea, having been held there for more than three weeks - has his friends and his wife anxiously awaiting word on his plight.

"I think everyone here is concerned about it," said Bill Blankenburg, 81, a fellow resident at Channing House, a retirement community in Palo Alto. "We have no information beyond the fact that he was detained."

Another resident, 85-year-old Brian Trankle, said Newman, a Korean War veteran, is in need of his medication, and that his wife, Lee Newman, had been trying to get the drugs to him.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/North-Korea-detains-traveler-from-Palo-Alto-85-4996287.php

---

Other sources:
San Jose Mercury News, Exclusive: Palo Alto man, 85, removed from plane, detained in North Korea
Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto resident, 85, being held in North Korea
New York Times, Another American Tourist Is Arrested in North Korea
ABC, American Korean War Vet Detained in North Korea

US Dept of State travel warning begins:

The Department of State recommends against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK). This replaces the Travel Warning for North Korea of October 1, to update information on the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens in North Korea.