By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 22, 2008 Filed at 1:41 p.m. ET
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Tuesday that the United States should remember the ''bitter lesson'' of the communist country's seizure of the American spy ship USS Pueblo four decades ago.
The USS Pueblo was seized off North Korea while it was on an intelligence-gathering mission on Jan. 23, 1968. The North says the ship was inside its coastal zone. U.S. Navy records say it was in international waters.
''The U.S. should not forget the bitter lesson drawn from the incident,'' an unidentified spokesman for the North's Korean National Peace Committee was quoted as saying in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the seizure.
''The incident was a product of the U.S. gangster-like policy of aggression'' against North Korea, the statement said.
Forty years ago, North Korean torpedo boats attacked the lightly armed USS Pueblo as it was monitoring ship movements and intercepting messages.
One of the U.S. ship's 83 crew members was killed and 10 others were wounded. The crew, led by Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher, were released after 11 months of captivity and sometimes torture.
North Korea displays the USS Pueblo -- now docked on the Taedong River in the capital, Pyongyang -- as a symbol of resistance. It is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power.
Decades of tension between Pyongyang and Washington have so far prevented the return of the ship, which is named after a city in Colorado.
The North said Tuesday that Washington has ''continued to conduct aggressive espionage and military provocations ... driving the situation to the brink of war.''
The statement called on Washington to end its ''hostile policy'' toward the North and to replace the armistice agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace treaty.
Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations with each other, but they have been increasing contacts amid international efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs.
The North's official media however, regularly accuse the U.S. of planning to attack. Washington denies the charge.
By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 17, 2008 SEOUL, South Korea ― The president-elect on Wednesday proposed eliminating a government agency that has long led efforts to build reconciliation with North Korea, but which he has accused of being too soft on the Communist government there.
There was no immediate response from North Korea, but analysts here said it was likely to react harshly, further complicating six-nation talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs.
The proposal by the president-elect, Lee Myung-bak, to abolish the Unification Ministry and have its duties taken over by the Foreign Ministry is subject to parliamentary approval.
Liberal lawmakers, who dominate Parliament and take great pride in the thawing they have long pursued between the Koreas, are expected to fight to save the ministry.
The Unification Ministry has represented Seoul in inter-Korean talks that have resulted in billions of dollars of South Korean aid for the North.
The issue of unification should be handled consistently with foreign policies, Mr. Lee’s transition team said Wednesday in a report on his plans to streamline the government.
The reorganization plans call for closing, merging or downgrading five ministries. Besides the Unification Ministry, they include the Ministries of Information and Communication, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Science and Technology, and Gender Equality and Family.
The election of Mr. Lee, a conservative, on Dec. 19 ended a decade of liberal government here. A former chief executive of Hyundai Construction and mayor of Seoul, he has vowed to run his government like an efficient business. He will be sworn in as president on Feb. 25.
Signaling the ideological shift, Mr. Lee also called for abolishing government commissions that have investigated Korean collaborators during Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century and human rights abuses by past South Korean military dictators ― investigations that have angered the conservatives.
A spokesman for the Unification Ministry declined to comment.
The ministry has been the focus of criticism throughout the administrations of the departing president, Roh Moo-hyun, and his predecessor, Kim Dae-jung.
The two leaders, promoting a so-called sunshine policy, brought about profoundly closer relations with the North, but they have been faulted for pouring aid across the border without managing to end North Korean nuclear weapons programs and human rights abuses.
Mr. Lee said Mr. Roh’s approach to North Korea had caused friction with the United States, a South Korean ally, and promised to work more closely with Washington in dealing with the North.
While absorbing the Unification Ministry into the Foreign Ministry, which represents Seoul in international talks on ending North Korean nuclear arms programs, would reflect Mr. Lee’s new approach, it appeared at odds with his announcement on Monday that he would continue to engage the North and be willing to meet with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il.
“What we see is a lack of coordination between pro-engagement forces and hard-liners within Lee’s camp,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a specialist on North Korea at the Sejong Institute.
