By Choe Chong-dae
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A Washington federal court has recently ordered North Korea to compensate $2.3 billion to the surviving Pueblo crewmen and families of deceased crewmen who were severely mistreated when captured by the North Korean navy.
The Pueblo crewmen were tortured during harsh interrogations, publicly humiliated and forced into confessing while imprisoned for 11 months. After long, tough negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea, the crewmen of the Pueblo were finally released at Panmunjeom, just before Christmas Eve in 1968.
Since few Western countries had relations with North Korea at that time, the Swedish and Swiss delegations of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) at Panmunjeom played a significant role in the negotiations. Initially, the NNSC included Switzerland and Sweden for the U.N. and the South, and Czechoslovakia and Poland for the North and China. To supervise the implementation of the Armistice Agreement of the Korean War, the NNSC and the Military Armistice Commission was established in 1953.
Although the crewmen were released, the vessel itself remained impounded by North Korea. It was the only U.S. Navy ship to be seized and kept by a foreign nation. It was relocated to the east coast city of Wonsan, and held for several years. The ship later was moved to its current location at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. It is a symbol of victory over the U.S and provides fodder for virulent anti-Americanism among North Korean tourists who visit the display.
Notably, the word Pueblo ship came from the American Indian Pueblo tribe. The name Pueblo is derived from the Spanish world for village.
Coincidently, more than a century and a half ago in 1866, an armed U.S. merchant ship, called the General Sherman, entered the Taedong River near Pyongyang to force open trade with the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) that was then closed off from other nations.
The ship was destroyed by the military of Korea. North Korea distorted this historic event in the book "Joseon History" by describing the General Sherman incident as "Korea's first anti-American victory." The victory was supposedly led by an ancestor of Kim Il-sung, reinforcing the legitimacy of the illustrious Kim family.
Just two days before the USS Pueblo crisis, 31 highly trained North Korean commandos, disguised as ROK military, infiltrated Seoul. They boldly advanced to Cheongun-dong, near the Blue House, the presidential residence, on a mission to assassinate then President Park Chung-hee.
However, Korean joint security forces repelled the North Korean attack, killing 29 of the raiders and capturing one. One commando escaped to North Korea. During the ferocious battle, dozens of South Korean troops and civilians lost their lives. A few US soldiers died, too. This terrifying provocation impelled the Republic of Korea to establish the Homeland Reserve Forces in April the same year.
To ease tensions on the peninsula, the USS Pueblo should be returned to U.S. as soon as possible. The gesture would help improve relations between the U.S. and North Korea and perhaps lead to a peaceful resolution of the precarious North Korean nuclear issue.
Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association.
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