North Korea Should Return USS Pueblo Warship, New York Lawmaker Urges Washington

A lawmaker has asked Washington to demand North Korea to return the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo to the U.S. Navy, the Voice of America’ Korean service reported Tuesday.

John Faso, a Republican congressman from New York, sent a letter to White House security adviser John Bolton on Saturday stating that Washington should use the repatriation of the ship for negotiations with North Korea.

North Korea attacked and illegally captured USS Pueblo on Jan. 23, 1968 while the ship was engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast. In the incident, one crew member, Duen Hodges, was killed. Other 82 crew members were captured and returned to the U.S. after 11 months of mental and physical torture.

North Korea is yet to return the ship and it is being displayed along the Pothong River in Pyongyang for anti-American propaganda purposes, Yonhap News reported.

In the letter, Faso said Pueblo is still officially a U.S. naval ship even though it is being used as a museum and as war booty in Pyongyang.

"We cannot erase the beatings, injuries and mental sufferings of the heroes on board the Pueblo, but we have the opportunity to return the captured Pueblo to the surviving veterans and bereaved families to close the case,” he said in the letter.

He also said there have been "frequent discussions with veterans advisory committee members and local veterans about the issue of repatriating Pueblo.”

"83 sailors and bereaved families are still trying to heal the wounds caused by the North Korean regime. Repatriation of Pueblo will help to end the lives of heroes who have been unjustly suffered by North Korea,” he wrote.

Earlier in May, House Republican Scott Tipton proposed a resolution calling for the return of the ship to the U.S.

“It has been 50 years since the USS Pueblo was unlawfully seized by the North Korean government from international waters, and we will never forget the horrors that its crew endured at the hands of their captors. This remains an important issue for many Pueblo residents and Coloradans including surviving veterans,” said Tipton in a letter to President Donald Trump.

“The USS Pueblo continues to be unlawfully held captive and used as a tool for North Korean propaganda. The return of the USS Pueblo is an important topic that should be included during conversations and negotiations with the North Korean government,” he added.

In a report commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ship’s seizure, North Korea's official news agency quoted a naval officer saying the ship is a symbol of how the U.S. will suffer a “crushing defeat” if it tries breaching the country’s sovereignty. A student who visited the ship said he felt "pleasant sensation of a victor” as he looked at the photos of the American crew captured in the attack, CBS News reported.