NORTH KOREA AND RUSSIA REBUFF U.S. EFFORTS TO FREE SEIZED SHIP; CAPTAIN'S 'CONFESSION' IS DERIDED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000200220059-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 16, 2004
• Sequence Number: 59
• Publication Date: January 25, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 20411/aFFfB00338R000200220059-8
~~ crlti ~ +?r?hr.4J
U.S.:'ROTEST:.:Rear
of the U.S.S..Pueblo.
'Adm. John 'V. 'Smith at Panmunjoni,..Korea, yesterday; reading 'a statemetzt about the. seizure
At left is Maj. Gen. Chung Kook Pak, North. Korean,-delegate to, Mixed Armistice Commission.
'0WW STEP STUDIED
2d Bid to Russia or to
U.N. Weigh ed-Force.,
'Termed Last Resort
By PETER GROSE
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 --
-The United States was rebuffed
cow use its good offices with. Secretary of State Dean Rusk
the North Koreans. said the seizure was "in the
Qualified sources indicated, category of actions to be cc
however, that further diplo-
tempted before there was any, ; '.,y Ptron,L; advice to w.%-
resort to military reprisals. ,,.North. Koreans is to cool it"
There was no clear idea in- Mr. Rusk said after having
side the Administration about' given testimr ny in a closed ses-
the most effective way to apply ' sion of the, house Foreign Af.;'
fairs Committee.
diplomatic pressures, but two
lines of approach-through the President Johnson summoned
United Nations, and a second members of the' National,
appeal to the Soviet Union-. Security Council for a' White
were under active considera- House conference, the first
tion. meeting of the board since Nov,'
....
~.Z to obtain the release of paredness, the nuclear-powered
t:.e intelligence ship Pueblo and' carrier Enterprise and four del
her crew of 83, captured yes- 'stroyers escorts were directed
tcrday by the Communist re-
gir_,~ of North Korea..
administration spo
L ,t that the Soviet
,,r"4acly,refused to".act on a
tQ take up positions .'off.. the.
r X 0
the 90 jet aircraft on board the
carrier. .
n
2 17 A ~i, 712D
7i1_1 /t' RI/4. :.W,7/7
After the meeting, Admirt?
istration officials indicated that
the. advice to "cool it" might
be applied as well to specula-
tion that immediate military,
action . was -contemplated to
force the release of the ship;
and her crew.
Ambassador Llewellyn Thom
son was reported to have been
greeted with an immediate '
and' negative response yesterd
from the Soviet Deputy Foreign
Minister, Vasily V. Kuznetsov,
when he went to the Kremlin
to urge the Russians to act.
Officials reported that the
Soviet diplomat did not even
accept the United States messag
for consideration by, the Kremer
lin, he rejected it on the spot,
The second immediate line
pp
CIA-RDP70B00338R000 g02c2OO`5t9-$1 . direct meeting
 North Korca:: off' 1'~~ ed F bfrtkA@4?b526R~41O '09I: CIA-RDP70B00338R000200220059-8
m;lirRrv Armistice zlnilis- 7Tn;1-C- Ctatrc officials aC-11 -
State Department capital may be limited by Mos-
nce to alienate an
l
t
'
uc
a
s re
;, ;lag, Robert J. Mc cow
Cioshe , described the reaction Asian Communist regime that
of the North Korean represen- only recently was lured away
from open alliance with China.
tative as "cynical, `denuncia-~ Moreover, there is evidence
tory of the United States and a! that the Russians have en-1
distortion of the facts Of the, couraged the North Koreans in
recent months to carry on sma
case." scale acts of harrassment and
The North Koreans contended inffiltr ation across the armistice
th .t tl:e Pueblo was carrying demarcation line that separates
out acts of provocation North and South Korea.
:itod 5taes officials said this bushestsagainst thelnSouand
th!
v:as patently false --- and that Korean people and installa-
she was within iorth Korean tions have increased sharply
tagon and other United States!1 since the North Korean regime
territorial waters. adopted a policy of staging
Careful analysis at the Pen- "diversionary" attacks to try
Government offices of the ship'1 drawing United States energies
position in Wonsan Bay in- away from the war in Vietnam.
dicated that by no definition ~ United States officials believ
of territorial waters could it' however, that the Russians
be said that the Pueblo was! have avoided urging any spec-
in illegal waters. I tacular gestures, such as the
Mr. McCloskey said the ! seizure of an American, ship,
eblo was "well beyond" the!. and for a particular reason.
P
u
12-mile territorial limit claimed These officials. consider the
by North Korea. Other sources Russians as vulnerable as the
said she may have been seized Americans to having one of!
at a point as much as 25 miles their intelligence-gathering ves !
off shore, sets captured or exposed. Soviet.,
Defense Department planners said it was not likely that, an- without any actual threat to
trawlers are often spotted fo1-Pother direct approach would be the' ships.
considered several military oP- lowing United ng border ates naval ves instal, made to North Korea, though a ' Broadcasts Denounce U.S.
tions that are open to t the he sels or observi The North Koreans have de-
United States should the diplo- lations from just outside terri-!further meeting of the armistice nounced the United States re-
made efforts fail. Among those torial, waters. convnission, would be sought. cently as having made provo-
under most serious discussion Any future approach to the While top Administration of- cations in the seas off their'
were the following: Kremlin could imply the threat. ficials worked on steps to re shores.
An attempt to storm into that a Soviet ship might be cover the ship and her crew, A Pyongyang broadcast of
Wonsan harbor and . forcibl seized in retalliation. Though
Y others tried to assess the prac- Jan. 9, for instance, stated that
retrieve the vessel. Mr. Thompson is understood to tical damage already done. on Jan. 6 the United States
'Seizure or destruction of have been free to raise this Government experts believe infiltrated "many armed boats,
one or more North Korean matter in his talk with Mr.~,h
Kuznetsov, there is no indicts- ,tme secret documents mingled with fishing boats, un
ships as retal'u;tion or for po- flog that he had done so. haveatalreadyso been captured by der the scort of armed war-
tentiai bar ;in:ng power. the North Koreans. One of the. shi s into the coastal waters
CAcrial `combing and sinking The Administration is in con- last radio messages from theiof our side off the cast coast
of the Pueblo at the Wonsan tact with friendly governments Pueblo's skipper, Comdr. Lloyd!to perpetrate Provocative acts
about the best means of apply-
docks to deny Communist in, diplomatic pressure on cr Bucher, indicated that dthO e- spite repeated warnings from
counterintelligence teams any North Korea, but so far no crew had been unable to de ; 0 our side."
further access to the electronic stroy all the secret files, ac-
acceptable course of action has The U.5. imperialists on
g been proposed. cording to reliable sources.
intelli once -gathering equip- gressors, the broadcast con-
ment on board. Equipment Believed Destroyed h
The major difficulty is that tinued," have lately gone so far
Officials believe, however,
A naval blockade of Wonsan the United States has no direct as to infiltrate boats carrying
and perhaPs other North Ko relations with the Pyongyang a a hnd at all radar or most of the uip-
eavesdropping eqquip- espionage and subversive .cle-
rcan ports. regime, and virtually no rou- ment was destroyed when it,ments, Between Dec. 2' -and
Reconnaissance Missions were tine business that could provide became evident that the ship Dec. 18 last year more than:
said to have been flown over a mechanism for bargaining. 3;150 fishing boats and boats
North Korea after the seizure was in uanger.
Britain and Canada are already One qualified source said it of spies were infiltrated into
of the Pueblo early yesterday. reported to have indicated that, would take about 30 minutes'tbe coastal waters of our side
All Air Force and Navy units ' they saw no way to play a use ! to complete the destruction of on T4 occasions." The broad-,
in the area received orders, ful role. equipment and files. From the'cast indicated that South Ko-'
however, to avoid any actions . The Communist nations of.sir nals received there was not~rean as well as American in
that might be considered prow Eastern Europe seem to offer I this much time between the filtrations were included in this
ocation. the best hope of carrying Out:moment Commander Bucher'figure.
"It is still the hope of this a mission of good offices, ac 'realized tha the North Koreans,
Government that the matter cording to some officials. How-!intended to board the ship andL_
can be resolved through dipio- ever, Administration spokesmen ! the time they seized control:
1 I " George Chris- f;rnl declined to say whether re ort
ne s
i
es
t
I -
Russians give us some help in , . . . -" '
'of Unitetd States naval vessels,
this.,.
Ic c 7an
, b
nta
y Government sourc
tiara, the White house press a response would be soughtlthat there have been repeated
secretary said. Secretary Rust: trhough these channels. instances lately of harassment
said "we would like to see the State Department officialslby North Korean patrol boats
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7.,4pproved For Release 2004/02/09: CIA-RDP70B00338R00020.0220059-8