US House passes resolution calling for return of USS Pueblo seized by N. Korea

A Korean People's Army (KPA) guide walks aboard the USS Pueblo at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang, in this July 28, 2017 file photo. AFP-Yonhap

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution last week calling for the return of a U.S. Navy ship seized by North Korea 55 years ago.

The resolution calls for the return of USS Pueblo while denouncing North Korea's seizure of the ship and its crew Jan. 23, 1968.

The House "maintains North Korea's seizure of the vessel USS Pueblo and its detention of the crew were in violation of international law," it states.

It also adds the House "declares that USS Pueblo is the property of the United States government and it should be returned to the United States."

North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported Saturday that Pyongyang will wipe out "not only a port or an airfield of a warmonger or invader but their entire land if a second USS Pueblo enters our territorial waters again."

The ship and its 83 crewmembers were seized while on an intelligence gathering mission in the East Sea.

The House resolution argued the ship had "strict orders to remain at all times at a distance more than 13 nautical miles from the near point in North Korean territory, in order to avoid any possible incident."

"The United States has no reason to believe the orders were not obeyed," it added, also noting the ship was carrying three 50-caliber machine guns at the time of its seizure, but that not a single shot had been fired.

One of the crewmembers, Fireman Duane Hodges, died on the day during the North Korean seizure of the Pueblo. His body and the other 82 sailors were repatriated in December 1968 after being detained in the North for 11 months.

The crew and their family members filed a damage suit against North Korea in 2018 for the "mental and physical abuse" they were exposed to during their time in the reclusive country.

A U.S. federal district court ruled against the North in 2021, ordering it to pay over $2 billion in total or a minimum of $3.35 million to each of the crewmembers in compensation. (Yonhap)