Washington – The State Department says it can’t negotiate the return of the USS Pueblo from North Korea while the United States is trying to get the communist nation to drop its nuclear ambitions.
A State Department official turned aside a suggestion by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that the U.S. demand the North Koreans return the Pueblo. He suggested offering a Korean flag captured in the 19th century in exchange for the ship.
Allard said his constituents are eager to see North Korea return the Pueblo, which is named for the Colorado town and is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power.
The assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Jeffrey Bergner, wrote to Allard that the countries have no formal diplomatic relations.
The Pueblo was taken Jan. 23, 1968, while on an intelligence- gathering mission off the North Korean coast.
