Seoul Searchin' - USS Pueblo To Be Returned?
We met today with Lee Hwa Young, member of the Uri Party. Mr. Lee was in North Korea meeting with what he characterized as "high officials" in Pyongyang to discuss North-South relations.
He said that last month the North Koreans told him they were considering two gestures of good will. The first, which just came to fruition this week, was the return of the G.I.s bodies to the U.S. The second, which hasn't happened yet, is the return of the U.S.S. Pueblo, a U.S. ship captured by North Korea in the 1960s. It currently is moored on a river in Pyongyang and is used as propoganda by the North Koreans.
Given how little information there is coming out of North Korea it is very hard to verify this. But a spokesman for Governor Bill Richardson, who was just in North Korea to retrieve the G.I.'s bodies, says the subject never came up when he was in the country. Mr. Lee said the North Koreans were considering the move to further build trust between the U.S. and North Koreans.
Mr. Lee also described a bleak economic situation in North Korea, which is not surprising. It's all about trying to read subtle clues. He took a comment from one high level official of a sign of even worsening conditions.
The official told Mr. Lee that heating supplies were so scarce that he could only heat one room in his house so his entire family, three generations, could keep warm. The fact that a high level official can't get proper heating supplies is significant, and the idea that an official would admit that to an outsider and expose a weakness, gives a sense of how bad things are, noted Mr. Lee.
He said that last month the North Koreans told him they were considering two gestures of good will. The first, which just came to fruition this week, was the return of the G.I.s bodies to the U.S. The second, which hasn't happened yet, is the return of the U.S.S. Pueblo, a U.S. ship captured by North Korea in the 1960s. It currently is moored on a river in Pyongyang and is used as propoganda by the North Koreans.
Given how little information there is coming out of North Korea it is very hard to verify this. But a spokesman for Governor Bill Richardson, who was just in North Korea to retrieve the G.I.'s bodies, says the subject never came up when he was in the country. Mr. Lee said the North Koreans were considering the move to further build trust between the U.S. and North Koreans.
Mr. Lee also described a bleak economic situation in North Korea, which is not surprising. It's all about trying to read subtle clues. He took a comment from one high level official of a sign of even worsening conditions.
The official told Mr. Lee that heating supplies were so scarce that he could only heat one room in his house so his entire family, three generations, could keep warm. The fact that a high level official can't get proper heating supplies is significant, and the idea that an official would admit that to an outsider and expose a weakness, gives a sense of how bad things are, noted Mr. Lee.
posted by ThatsAllFolks at 2:03 PM
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