North Korea confirms detention of U.S. citizen: State Department

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has confirmed through Swedish officials in Pyongyang that it has detained a U.S. citizen, a State Department official said on Friday, after reports that an 85-year-old California man was pulled off a plane as he was about to leave the country. "Our Swedish protecting power has been informed of the detention of a U.S. citizen," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. The family of Merrill Newman, a retiree from Palo Alto, California, and Korean War veteran, said he was taken away by North Korean officials. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Doina Chiacu)