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The Last P.O.W.
How did an 85-year old grandfather from Palo Alto, California end up a prisoner in North Korea?
"The Last POW" is the true story of Merrill Newman, a retired Silicon Valley executive and Korean War veteran who was hauled off his plane at Pyongyang airport as he was about to return home at the end of a tourist trip in late 2013. For nearly two months, he was held by North Korea’s fearsome security services, subjected to intensive interrogation, and repeatedly warned that if he did not confess his “crimes,” he might never be allowed to return home.
In visiting the North, Newman was returning for a final glimpse of the country where he served a half century earlier. Perhaps naively- and in sharp contrast to America’s former enemies Japan, Germany, and Vietnam - he did not realize that for the North Koreans, the war had never ended. His role in 1953 as a U.S. military adviser to the “Kuwol Comrades”-- anti-communist Korean guerrillas who fought behind North Korean lines -- convinced a paranoid North Korean regime that despite his age, his heart condition, and the passage of time, Newman was a dangerous “enemy” agent.
"The Last POW" is the exclusive account of Newman’s ordeal -- how the North Koreans tried, without success, to break his will; his interactions with his sinister interrogator and the other North Koreans involved in his detention; the "confession" he was forced to broadcast, and how he tried to signal he was being coerced.
While Merrill was detained in Pyongyang, his family -- his wife Lee, living in a retirement home in Palo Alto, and his son and daughter-in-law in Pasadena -- were frantically trying to determine what had happened to him and what they could do to secure his freedom.
Newman’s detention became a symbol of the seemingly irreconcilable differences that keep North Korea and the U.S. in a permanent state of tension, and revealed the inner workings of the security apparatus of one of the world’s most totalitarian states. Eventually, his case would involve the State Department, the international news media, eccentric former basketball player Dennis Rodman, and possibly North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself.
His story serves as a warning against underestimating the lengths to which a paranoid and secretive regime will go to defend what it perceives as a threat to its security or reputation. But it is also an inspiring tale of an ordinary American family’s courage and resilience in a situation as frightening as it was bizarre.
Mike Chinoy is a Senior Fellow at the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California. He previously spent 24 years as a foreign correspondent for CNN, serving as Bureau Chief in Beijing and Hong Kong, and as Senior Asia Correspondent.. He is the author of "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis," and "China Live: People Power and the Television Revolution." He his visited North Korea 17 times.
Cover design by Evan Twohy.
"The Last POW" is the true story of Merrill Newman, a retired Silicon Valley executive and Korean War veteran who was hauled off his plane at Pyongyang airport as he was about to return home at the end of a tourist trip in late 2013. For nearly two months, he was held by North Korea’s fearsome security services, subjected to intensive interrogation, and repeatedly warned that if he did not confess his “crimes,” he might never be allowed to return home.
In visiting the North, Newman was returning for a final glimpse of the country where he served a half century earlier. Perhaps naively- and in sharp contrast to America’s former enemies Japan, Germany, and Vietnam - he did not realize that for the North Koreans, the war had never ended. His role in 1953 as a U.S. military adviser to the “Kuwol Comrades”-- anti-communist Korean guerrillas who fought behind North Korean lines -- convinced a paranoid North Korean regime that despite his age, his heart condition, and the passage of time, Newman was a dangerous “enemy” agent.
"The Last POW" is the exclusive account of Newman’s ordeal -- how the North Koreans tried, without success, to break his will; his interactions with his sinister interrogator and the other North Koreans involved in his detention; the "confession" he was forced to broadcast, and how he tried to signal he was being coerced.
While Merrill was detained in Pyongyang, his family -- his wife Lee, living in a retirement home in Palo Alto, and his son and daughter-in-law in Pasadena -- were frantically trying to determine what had happened to him and what they could do to secure his freedom.
Newman’s detention became a symbol of the seemingly irreconcilable differences that keep North Korea and the U.S. in a permanent state of tension, and revealed the inner workings of the security apparatus of one of the world’s most totalitarian states. Eventually, his case would involve the State Department, the international news media, eccentric former basketball player Dennis Rodman, and possibly North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself.
His story serves as a warning against underestimating the lengths to which a paranoid and secretive regime will go to defend what it perceives as a threat to its security or reputation. But it is also an inspiring tale of an ordinary American family’s courage and resilience in a situation as frightening as it was bizarre.
Mike Chinoy is a Senior Fellow at the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California. He previously spent 24 years as a foreign correspondent for CNN, serving as Bureau Chief in Beijing and Hong Kong, and as Senior Asia Correspondent.. He is the author of "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis," and "China Live: People Power and the Television Revolution." He his visited North Korea 17 times.
Cover design by Evan Twohy.
- GenresNonfiction
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2014
16 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 2, 2015
A few spoilers, but if you watch or read the news, you already know all of this. . .
Short book detailing the true story of Merrill Newman, an 85 year old Korean War veteran with health issues, who was detained in North Korea for alleged crimes committed during the war (primarily interactions with the Kuwol Regiment) & espionage (yeah, right. . . he's 85). Though he was treated fairly well during the ordeal (for example, he was checked by a medical team four times a day), this book highlights the paranoid extremes closed-off dictatorships will go to in order to protect their interests. Interesting book. Well written.
Short book detailing the true story of Merrill Newman, an 85 year old Korean War veteran with health issues, who was detained in North Korea for alleged crimes committed during the war (primarily interactions with the Kuwol Regiment) & espionage (yeah, right. . . he's 85). Though he was treated fairly well during the ordeal (for example, he was checked by a medical team four times a day), this book highlights the paranoid extremes closed-off dictatorships will go to in order to protect their interests. Interesting book. Well written.
December 31, 2014
Interesting look into an unknown place
Interesting story and look into a place so much unlike the rest of the world. A total and behind the scenes look into the detention of a U.S. citizen by North Korea. Very interesting story.
Interesting story and look into a place so much unlike the rest of the world. A total and behind the scenes look into the detention of a U.S. citizen by North Korea. Very interesting story.
January 19, 2015
Interesting book and not like others I have read on North Korea
This is a fascinating book on one particular incident in North Korea. I think the author explains what must have been a nightmare for the family well enough, in a brief but concise manner. A very fast read!
This is a fascinating book on one particular incident in North Korea. I think the author explains what must have been a nightmare for the family well enough, in a brief but concise manner. A very fast read!
August 10, 2015
American tourist travels to North Korea. Turns out he helped train fighters against the Communist government years earlier. He makes a bunch of ill-advised comments while traveling around the country with minders. He is arrested. Eventually released. There's not much more to this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2015
Basic
This was a basic rehash of the story. I found no real insights of note. It's a good primer, but nothing more.
This was a basic rehash of the story. I found no real insights of note. It's a good primer, but nothing more.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews