Merrill Newman, a retired American soldier freed from North Korea, speaks with reporters at San Francisco International AirportWith the aid of Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An elderly U.S. Korean Struggle veteran launched from detention in North Korea stated on Monday a videotaped "confession" he made used to be given beneath duress and that he believed he can have been held in a misunderstanding over his interest within the war. Merrill Newman, eighty five, mentioned in a commentary that he was once stored under protect in a North Korean resort during a detention that lasted over a month, and that his interrogator informed him he would be sentenced to jail for 15 years if he didn’t cooperate. Newman, who used to be a U.S. different forces soldier during the 1950-fifty three Korean Battle and labored with guerrillas fighting in the back of the traces towards the communists within the north, used to be pulled off a flight on October 26 as he was once about to depart the reclusive East Asian nation on the end of a vacationer talk over with. The California native was once held for crimes North Korea stated he dedicated right through the battle, when he used to be a lieutenant with a U.S. Military unit nicknamed the "White Tigers," serving as an adviser to a bunch of partisans who fought deep in the back of enemy lines.