[Holiday in North Korea] Aboard North Korea's captured US ship, the USS Pueblo

The captured USS Pueblo is seen in Pyongyang in August 2010. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

It's hard for younger people to relate to, but the 1968 USS Pueblo incident is still an open wound to many who can remember the tense incident over 50 years ago. North Korea captured the U.S. ship ― either in its own waters or international waters, depending on which side you believe ― and held 83 crewmen hostage for almost a year, until the U.S. signed a document that was criticized as a humiliating apology and admission of guilt, in order to secure their return.

It was a tense period, coming right after the Blue House Raid as well as a week before the Tet Offensive turned the tide in the Vietnam War.

"The U.S. compromised what many saw as a basic requirement of national honor in order to obtain the release of the crew of the USS Pueblo. To wit: Signed a false admission of infringing on North Korean territorial waters. I agree with the decision since it was the only way to obtain the release of the surviving crew members but understand the anguish with which it was undertaken," author Martin Limon told The Korea Times in a 2018 interview about his newly released novel, "The Line," in which the motivations of the characters were driven by the outcome of the incident. He witnessed that anguish himself, having served in Korea at the time when the crew was released.

A life buoy on board the USS Pueblo / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

But the situation has not been brought to a full conclusion. The Pueblo remains the only commissioned U.S. Navy ship currently held in captivity, now in Pyongyang, where it is treated as a tourist attraction.

It is now on display at the bombastically named, Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum. Originally, the ship had been held at Wonsan on the east coast, but in 1999, it was moved all the way around the Korean Peninsula through international waters to Nampo, where it could be brought up the river to Pyongyang. The move must have been quite an undertaking, and it goes to show how much the North must be restricted by having two coastal areas separated by South Korea's hostile political geography. As a Canadian, I'm a little surprised they didn't find a way to portage it across land instead.

When I visited Pyongyang in August 2010, it had been moored on the shores of the Taedong River, at the site that was claimed to be where the General Sherman incident ― in which a U.S. Merchant Marine ship was destroyed ― took place in 1866, which the North views as another symbolic victory.

Jon Dunbar stands on the deck of the USS Pueblo. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

The ship was docked along an otherwise innocuous stretch of the riverside park, a pleasant, grassy area with many passersby ― not a discernible military installation at all. A small number of uniformed sailors were present, but seemed to be there more for helping visitors than for providing any security. They seemed welcoming to tourists, or at least tolerant of being photographed.

North Koreans at the USS Pueblo in Pyongyang / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

We were brought aboard and taken into the claustrophobic hold where a video was played, presenting the North's side of the story. It is hard to agree or disagree on their take, since there are disagreements about the facts, and it wasn't like we could just hop on the Internet from the middle of Pyongyang back in 2010.

A propaganda video is played in the hold of the USS Pueblo. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

While the video showed footage of the captured Americans, I remember hearing about how they sent all sorts of signals to express their displeasure subtly, in ways only Westerners would pick up on, such as using their middle fingers, which hadn't really been perceived as an offensive gesture in North Korea (in either Korea, really, until the last decade). I also noticed we were being filmed. There had been a cameraman following us around as part of our tour, collecting footage for a DVD that was sold at the end of our trip. Somehow, none of the footage of me in the Pueblo's hold made it into the final film.

A room full of equipment on board the USS Pueblo / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

After the video, we were allowed to roam through the ship. On the bridge, I was surprised to find a rather old-fashioned wooden ship's wheel, which everyone was welcome to touch, aping the motions of the American sailors once serving on it. We could do the same with a machine gun located at the stern ― maybe so that we could put ourselves in their shoes, or just to mock their futile aggression against heroic North Korea. Machinery was still on board, but without being an expert, I couldn't guess its purpose, or if it served as evidence of North Korea's claims in any way. All throughout the hull and areas above deck were bullet holes of a few sizes that had been circled in red.

Bullet holes are circled in red on a door inside the USS Pueblo. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

It seemed like a strange choice for the North Koreans to make, since their side came off as more aggressive than they would have liked. The ship is preserved and on display to present evidence of the U.S. crime of intrusion into North Korean territorial waters while committing espionage acts, similar to how the Axe Murder Incident equipment is viewable in Panmunjom. It is meant to convince us of the North Korean side of the story as an aggrieved victim of imperialism, and maybe also send a message to foreigners not to cross them.

Some of the others in my group climbed down to the bottom deck, before they were told it was off-limits and they were turned back. I joked with my friend who had gone down there that he had officially gone "urban exploring" in North Korea.

A North Korean speaks about the Pueblo incident on shore near the captive U.S. ship. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

After we got back on shore, we received another talk from a middle-aged North Korean woman in uniform. I can't remember what she said, just like I can barely remember any of the content of the video shown on board. All I can remember is that I thought she looked like someone I cared about deeply in the South, like they could be long-lost cousins. That sort of thing happened a few times while I was traveling through North Korea, showing how the two countries remain separated through such unnatural means.