North Korea: Evil Hostage Takers

This story, about an 85 year old Korean War veteran taken hostage by North Korea, is the prime example of why this government is evil and the United States should never negotiate with that "country."

And it's mistaken identity, probably.

Merrill E. Newman was traveling with a group on a tour bus through North Korea, and was taken away after boarding an Oct. 26 flight out of the country, his family says.

"They had checked out of the hotel, gone to the airport, boarded the plane," his son Jeffrey Newman told ABC News. "We understand [they] were five minutes from taking off when the Korean official came aboard, asked to see his passport then asked the stewardess to ask him to leave the plane and he left the plane with apparently no incident or drama and he's been there ever since."

But the North Koreans may have thought they were detaining a highly decorated U.S. Korean War veteran who happens to have the same -- or almost the same -- name as him.

Merrill H. Newman, 84, was awarded the Silver Star for holding off a heavy Chinese attack during the war. Both men fought in the Korean War, have almost identical names and are around the same age.

"The thought did occur to me ... that maybe there's a case of mistaken identity," Merrill H. Newman, who lives in Beaverton, Ore., told Reuters.