North Korea on Monday deported a 75-year-old Australian missionary, detained last month for distributing religious material, after he signed a detailed "confession" and apology

North Korea on Monday deported a 75-year-old Australian missionary, detained last month for distributing religious material, after he signed a detailed "confession" and apology.
  
Hong Kong-based John Short arrived in Beijing on a commercial flight from Pyongyang just hours after the North's official KCNA news agency announced he was being released. "I'm really, really tired," a tearful Short said, breaking down in front of reporters at Beijing airport.
  
His release came as North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea in a sign of the tensions on the Korean peninsula fuelled by ongoing South Korea-US joint military drills. KCNA said the "generous" decision to release and expel Short had been taken in light of his advanced age and his display of contrition.
  
The news agency released a copy of his confession, along with photos showing him affixing his thumb in red ink to the document which he also signed and read out. "I realise that my actions are an indelible hostile act against the independent right and laws of the (North)," the confession read. "I request forgiveness... and am willing to bow down on my knees," it said.