"Pueblo" Incident That Surprised the World-1. "This Is the Territorial Waters of the DPRK"

1. "This Is the Territorial Waters of the DPRK"

  On the morning of January 23, 1968 the Navy of the Korean People's Army detected an unidentified ship which illegally intruded into the spot 7.6 miles from Ryo Island in the waters off Wonsan of Kangwon Province.

  It had sharply watched the ship cunningly sailing in and out of the territorial waters of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea like an alley cat. A warship of the Navy of the KPA sailed out. It checked the ship and made a signal.

  "This is the territorial waters of the DPRK. Prove your nationality!"

  The warship was submarine chaser No. 35 which won fame later as a symbol of the invincible Navy of the KPA in the history of the DPRK-US showdown.

  Here is Kim Jung Rok who was a seaman of the submarine chaser at that time.

  "At that time, the unidentified ship attempted to run away, outrageously ignoring our repeated signal for proving its nationality; This is a hydrographic survey ship. We will repair the engine and go out of your territorial waters. Don't interfere.

  Our fighters and torpedo boats came.

  The submarine chaser gave the final warning.

  'If you don't prove your nationality within two minutes, we will fire!'

  Then, the aggressor ship dared to fire a machine-gun for provocation. We showered a fire of merciless retaliation on it. Those rushing to the armoury fell down and the frightened enemy gave up escaping and stopped the ship. At last, a flag was hoisted at the mast of the pirate ship. It was the Stars and Stripes of the US imperialists."

  According to the confession of captives afterwards, they miscalculated that the warships of any country would withdraw at the sight of the Stars and Stripes like on the Caribbean Sea. On the contrary, the national flag of the US imperialist Yankees exploded the resentment of our seamen like detonating powder.

  Seven seamen including Kim Jung Rok organized a death-defying corps and jumped on to the enemy ship.

  The Stars and Stripes the US imperialists had used to hoist at the mast, arrogantly saying "it is never hauled down", was torn to pieces and trampled underfoot by our seaman. The captain knelt down before the muzzle of a rifle and issued an order to surrender, throwing away the US naval spirit of going down with the ship and fighting it out.

  The captured pirate ship was the armed spy ship "Pueblo" of the US imperialists.

  Adapted from a transport ship, the "Pueblo" looked like a marine research ship. It was an armed spy ship belonging to the Pacific Fleet of the US imperialist aggressor army. It had latest espionage equipment and most of its 83 crew were spies with rich experience and technology needed for espionage acts. At the time of capture, there were a large-calibre machine gun and tens of small arms on the ship.

  The captives confessed that their espionage acts were inexcusable, open acts of aggression and crimes of violating the elementary international law.

  Three Heroes of the DPRK were produced in the battle for capturing the "Pueblo" which demonstrated the invincible spirit and fighting efficiency of the heroic KPA all over the world.

  The world boiled up, but the sea of Korea remained calm. The US imperialists sent huge armed forces including aircraft carrier and flying corps, talking about "retaliation", but they did not dare to step into the territorial waters of the DPRK.

  The territorial waters of the DPRK were a pit of death to the pirates. The "Pueblo" was entrapped in the bottomless pit. Both the enemy and the world were keeping an eye on the poor captive with uneasiness.