Originally published on November 21, 2013

An 85-year-old U.S. man has been detained in North Korea for more than three weeks, according to press reports.

Korean War veteran Merrill Newman and travel companion Bob Hamrdla reportedly entered North Korea with a Beijing-based tour operator. The two were on a plane preparing to leave the communist state on October 26 when authorities came on board and detained him.

According to Reuters: "Japan's Kyodo News Service, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in a report from Beijing, said the man entered North Korea for sightseeing last month with a valid visa and may have been detained. The report did not identify him.

The report continues:

But neighbors of 85-year-old Newman in the Northern California city of Palo Alto told Reuters on Wednesday they were concerned about his fate after he travelled to North Korea but failed to return.

The detention could become another diplomatic bargaining chip for North Korea, which has held Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary, since November 2012, Kyodo said. Bae has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

The U.S. State Department echoed U.S. embassy officials in Beijing and Seoul who said they were aware of the reports but could not confirm them.

A recent newsletter from Channing House, the retirement home where Newman lives, said he was embarking on a trip to North Korea along with another resident, Bob Hamrdla, and that the two would be accompanied at all times by Korean-speaking guides.

"There has to be a terrible misunderstanding. I hope that the North Koreans will see this as a humanitarian matter and allow him to return to his family as soon as possible," Hamrdla said in a brief statement released by Channing House on Wednesday that provided no further details.

A fellow resident of Channing House told Reuters that Hamrdla returned from the trip without Newman, whom he described as an adventurous traveler who had cruised much of the Pacific.

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