American held in North Korea, a case of mistaken identity?

[World News Headlines -]

By James Pearson and Alex Dobuzinskis SEOUL/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When North Korea dragged an elderly American tourist off a plane and detained him four weeks ago, they may have got the wrong man. Pyongyang may have thought they were detaining a highly-decorated U.S. Korean War veteran, but it may be a case of mistaken identity due to the two men sharing almost identical names. Frequent visitors to Pyongyang say the reclusive country regularly screens tourists, sometimes with a simple internet name search, so when Merrill E. Newman was grabbed, North Korean authorities may have thought they had nabbed Merrill H. Newman. Both are U.S. Korean War veterans and both are in their 80s, but Merrill H. Newman was awarded a Silver Star medal for holding off a heavy Chinese attack during the Korean War.

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