Every day, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang proudly displays a number of war trophies taken from US and UN forces during the Korean War.
But one of the main attractions was seized 14 years after the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953.
Moored on the Pothong River, the USS Pueblo features captured US Navy uniforms, flags, encryption machines, and written confessions by its crew, who were fired on in international waters and taken into custody by North Korea on January 23, 1968.
Pueblo was a small spy ship fitted with electronic equipment designed to eavesdrop on North Korean and Soviet communications.
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On January 11, 1968, Pueblo set out of Sasebo, Japan, for an intelligence-gathering mission off of North Korea’s east coast. At the time, this type of operation was not viewed as particularly risky; almost every country conducted similar missions, and Pueblo was ordered to stay at least 12 miles to 13 miles off the coast in order to remain in international waters.
The incident shocked and embarrassed the US Navy, the National Security Agency, and the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Read more: Business Insider
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