For North Korea, the war isn't over, says freed US vet Merrill Newman

(CNN) -- Until he returned home this weekend, Merrill Newman -- an American held in North Korea -- had no idea what a story he'd become.

During his detention, the 85-year-old veteran of the Korean War had no access to news. He has since seen the flood.

'Looking at the television and newspaper reports, I've seen a lot of speculation about why I was detained. I've given considerable thought to this and have come to the conclusion that I just didn't understand that, for the North Korean regime, the Korean War isn't over and that even innocent remarks about the war can cause big problems if you are a foreigner,' he said in a statement Monday.

Newman traveled in October as a tourist to North Korea on a 10-day organized tour. Authorities nabbed him just minutes before his Beijing-bound plane was set to depart Pyongyang.

Merrill talks about his time in North Korean custodyMerrill Newman back home in California What was Biden's role in Newman release?

In his statement, Newman describes what he thinks might have set them off.

'I innocently asked my North Korean guides whether some of those who fought in the war in the Mount Kuwol area might still be alive, and expressed an interest in possibly meeting them if they were. The North Koreans seem to have misinterpreted my curiosity as something more sinister,' he wrote.

'It is now clear to me the North Koreans still feel much more anger about the war than I realized. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have been more sensitive to that.'

For weeks, the North Korean government offered no explanation as to why they were holding Newman.

An explanation finally came last month, when state media published and broadcast what they described as the Korean War veteran's 'apology.' The word was written atop the first of four handwritten pages detailing his alleged indiscretions.

In the note dated November 9, Newman talked about his having advised the Kuwol unit, part of the 'intelligence bureau' fighting against Pyongyang during the Korean War. He detailed how he commanded troops to collect 'information' and wage deadly attacks.

'After I killed so many civilians and (North Korean) soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people,' Newman said, according to that report.

In his statement, Newman distanced himself from those comments.

'Anyone who has read the text of it or who has seen the video of me reading it knows that the words were not mine and were not delivered voluntarily. Anyone who knows me knows that I could not have done the things they had me 'confess' to,' he wrote.

Newman's release coincided with a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to South Korea, where he laid a wreath in honor of those who died in the war that pitted North against South.

A senior administration official said that Newman's release was the result of direct contact between Washington and Pyongyang. The official said the North Koreans had told the Obama administration in a telephone call that they were releasing Newman; no explanation was offered.

Newman thanked Biden, the U.S. State Department, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang and family and friends in his statement.

He wrote: 'I can't begin to tell you how good it is to be home, to be free, and to begin to resume my normal home life.'

Kim Jong Un's uncle ousted from military postOpinion: North Korea's Kim there to stay