Pueblo’s Capture U.S. GOES TO U.N.; CALLS UP 14,000

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 13

Pueblo’s Capture U.S. GOES TO U.N.; CALLS UP 14,000

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) NEW YORK, January 26. The United States will demand United Nations Security Council action today in its mounting campaign for the release of the intelligence ship Pueblo seized by North Korea. The Ambassador, Mr Arthur J. Goldberg, asked for the urgent council meeting last night accusing North Korea of an act of “wanton lawlessness” against a UnitedStates vessel on the high seas.

The United States envoy, under direct instructions from President Johnson, repeatedly assured the council that the Pueblo with her crew of 83 was in international waters when captured on Tuesday.

He accused North Korean authorities of a series of “increasingly dangerous and aggressive military actions,” including many armed incursions into South Korea in defiance of the 1953 Armistice. The United States decision to switch the main thrust of its diplomatic initiative to the United Nations caught many delegates in the United Nations by surprise, and Mr Goldberg maintained the element of uncertainty on the United States’ intentions by rebuffing reporters attempts to elicit details of his strategy. “It is our desire to solve the crisis by diplomatic means if possible,” he said at one point during a hastilycalled press conference last night

“I hope and desire that by bringing the matter to the United Nations this will be achieved.”

But he steadfastly refused to say what precisely the United States would propose at.today’s council meeting. Mr Goldberg said his two aims were to see the ship and its crew of 83 returned and the armistice agreement complied with. He emphasised that the return of the crew while the Pueblo remained in North Korean hands was an unacceptable solution to the problem. Diplomatic observers predicted that Mr Goldberg’s task would turn out to be far from easy with the composition of the 15-nation council, many of whose members are highly critical of United States policy in the Far East. Membership of the council now is as follows: Algeria, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Nationalist China, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Hungary, India, Pakistan, Paraguay, Senegal, U.S.S.R. and the United States. Thant’s Role

The Secretary-General, U Thant, who appeared only yesterday morning to have washed his hands of the Pueblo problem in the absence of formal United Nations involvement, was reported to be willing to accept any mediating role that the council might propose for him.

He has made plans to leave New York on Monday for London and New Delhi, to attend the second United Nations trade and development conference in the Indian capital.

It appeared certain today that he would have to cancel this trip, and a visit he was due to make to Madison, Wisconsin, tomorrow to receive an honorary degree. But while the United States pressed its diplomatic offensive it also began increasing its defence posture. Yesterday President Johnson ordered 14,600 Air Force and naval reservists to active duty. It was also reported from Washington that 24 jet fighters from Japan and Okinawa had moved to South Korea. A naval task force led by

the nuclear-powered aircraftcarrier Enterprise diverted from Vietnam duty, was patrolling the Sea of Japan off the North Korean coast. United States military authorities in Japan today declined to comment on the reported movements of the jets saying: “Movements of military aircraft and their deployment are classified.” In Washington the United States was awaiting results of a second private approach to Moscow for help in securing the release of the ship and its crew. It was clear the United States Government felt it needed more information before determining its full response to the capture of the Pueblo. The limited call-up of reservists was about the same as that ordered by President John F. Kennedy during the Cuba missile crisis in 1962. Calm And Grim

Congressmen viewed the call-up calmly, but grimly. The President appeared relaxed and cheerful after the announcement was issued. The Senate Majority Leader, Senator Mike Mansfield, said that the call-up decision indicated the possibility of greater difficulties in the Far East and called the situation “grave, dangerous, gloomy." The hundreds of thousands of reservists who were not called to duty were wondering whether they would be next.

The Defence SecretaryDesignate, Mr Clark Clifford, told senators today the safety of the Pueblo’s crew was a key factor in President Johnson’s thinking in the present crisis. When asked about Senator’s calls for forcible recapture of the Pueblo from the port of Wonsan or retaliatory seizure of North Korean ships at sea, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee: Getting Men Back “You will note that none of those alternatives would get those 83 men out . . . and the President wants those 83 men back.” President Johnson was making every effort to reach a diplomatic solution, he said. Mr Clifford, who is to become Defence Secretary in March, agreed that the capture of the Pueblo was the “type of incident which indicates that additional trouble lies ahead.” Informed sources reported that limited military possibilities being ca massed, each fraught with grave risks, include the following: Storming of Wonsan Harbour to get the Pueblo and what is left of its secret electronic gear out of Communist hands. Seizure or destruction of North Korean ships as a reprisal. Aerial bombing and sinking of the Pueblo, though

this could endanger any United States sailors still being kept aboard by the i North Koreans as hostages. ■ A naval blockade of Wonsan and other North Korean . ports, to deprive the ‘ country of supplies. 1 Hopes Dashed But the Koreans today dashed hopes for an early release for the crew by demanding punishment for those responsible for the ' Peublo Incident. Reports from Tokyo said an editorial in the North Korean Communist Party newspaper, “Rodong Shinmoon,” said “the criminals who encroach on other sovereignty and commit provocative acts must receive deserving punishment. “These criminals must be ' punished by law,” the party • newspaper said. The editorial said that if the United States persisted in its provocation, the North Korean armed forces, “each man of which is a match for 100 enemies.” and the Korean people would take stern counter-measures. It said the incident was “another grave act violating : and undermining the armistice agreement, an unpardonable act of aggression infringing upon the sacred sovereignty of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and an act for provoki ing a war.”