USS Pueblo Still Intact and Being Used By North Korea for Anti-American Propaganda Purposes

North Korean officials took a surprised U.S. delegation aboard a captured U.S. Navy spy ship on Monday, saying it represented "...continued U.S. aggression against North Korea."

Governor Bill Richardson said it was a pure propaganda move on the part of the North Koreans.

The USS Pueblo was captured in January 1968; it's crew was held for eleven months before being released by North Korea. They kept the ship and have used it for "anti-American education" ever since.

North Korea has dangled returning the ship to the U.S. Navy in exchange for a high-level visit from the U.S. Secretary of State, but that has been flatly refused by the U.S. government. The U.S. Navy still has the Pueblo on the books as an active unit, and does want it back, but the current level of tension between the U.S. and North Korea has made it impossible to facilitate a transfer.

The Pueblo is the only U.S. warship under the control of a foreign power, and was the first ship to be captured since 1941, when invading Japanese forces captured the USS Wake in Shanghai's harbor.