Merrill Newman says apology issued in N. Korea 'was not my English' SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Merrill Newman, the California man just freed from North Korea, said Sunday the apology he read while held in the Communist country was "not my English." The 85-year-old Palo Alto veteran told the Santa Cruz Sentinel the North Koreans put him up in a hotel room and kept him well-fed with traditional Korean food during his month of captivity. Newman had been in the country for a 10-day vacation. Newman, who was back on U.S. soil this weekend after North Korean officials put him on a flight to Beijing Friday after noting his advanced age and heart condition, said he was kept comfortable during his detention but found himself bored, the newspaper said. When asked about the video North Korean authorities released showing him reading an apology for war crimes he was alleged to have committed while in the U.S. military during the Korean War, Newman replied with a smirk, "Obviously, that's not my English."