NK actions in 1968 caused anti-US protests in Seoul
Clash at Freedom Bridge, published in The Korea Times Feb. 8, 1968. / Korea Times ArchiveBy Matt VanVolkenburgOn Jan. 21, 1968, 31 North Korean commandos who had infiltrated Seoul were discovered less than a kilometer from Cheong Wa Dae, the now-former presidential office and residence also known as the Blue House. In the ensuing confrontation, the commandos killed police officers and threw grenades at buses, killing three passengers. During the weeks-long manhunt that followed, all of the commandos were killed except for two: one who escaped, and another, Kim Shin-jo, who was captured. Kim confessed that the goal of their mission, widely referred to as the Blue House Raid, was to kill South Korean President Park Chung-hee. South Koreans were still recovering from this shock when, two days later, the North Korean Navy captured the USS Pueblo, an American intelligence-gathering ship, in international waters off North Korea's east coast, towed it to Wonsan harbor and imprisoned the 82 surviving crewmembers. At an Armistice Commission meeting in Panmunjeom on Jan. 24, the North Koreans
Jan 24, 2023By Jon Dunbar
