Lee Newman will be getting her Christmas wish this year. We are very happy to know that her husband of 56 years, Merrill Newman, has been “deported” from North Korea.
Mr. Newman, 85, of Palo Alto, California, was pulled from a plane on October 26 while preparing to leave that nation after a 10 day tour.The former finance exeutive has a heart condition and his family had been worried about his health since he was detained while trying to leave the country on a tourist visa.
Mrs. Newman, said that the family feels a misunderstanding led to his detention following a 10 day tour of North Korea on Oct. 26. It was a trip she said “he looked forward to making for a long time.”
Video showed him smiling as he walked past a cavalcade of reporters through the airport in Beijing. He felt good, he said, and looked forward to seeing his wife
“I’m very glad to be on my way home,” Newman told reporters. “And I appreciate the tolerance the DPRK government has given to me to be on my way.”
Neighbors have tied yellow ribbons around spots in his neighborhood in Palo Alto, California, to welcome him. “We are absolutely delighted to confirm that Merrill Newman is on his way home after being released by the DPRK,” said Jeff Newman, Merrill’s son.
“This has been a very difficult ordeal for us as a family and particularly for him,” said his son, who plans to meet his father when he disembarks in San Francisco. Merrill’s release may serve to relax tensions with the United States.
But above all, it will please his wife, Lee, who last month told CNN, “We need to have Merrill back at the head of the table for the holidays.”
Congratulations Newman family and a very Merry Christmas to you!
You can leave a note to the Newman family here
