CNN —In October 2013, an 85-year-old American tourist, Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, was taken off his Air Koryo plane as he waited to leave Pyongyang after a week-long tourist trip to North Korea and detained. No one — his family, the State Department, the media — had any idea why, and the North Koreans initially said nothing. North Korea has so far said nothing about the incident, which comes amid a spike in tensions between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul. American tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Over the decades, a handful of serving American soldiers have defected and been allowed to live in North Korea.

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