On January 23, Juche 57 (1968), seamen of the Korean People's Army captured the ship that intruded into the territorial waters of the DPRK to spy on it. This was an exercise of the DPRK's sovereignty and a legitimate step taken to defend the nation's dignity and security.

Nevertheless, the United States threatened to make "revenge" upon the DPRK, asserting that the ship was sailing in the "open sea" and was not on a spying mission. It hurled vast armed forces, including a nuclear-powered carrier, into the Korean Peninsula and put the U.S. forces present in Japan and south Korea on the red alert.

At that time, the DPRK government declared its stand that it would return retaliation for "retaliation" and answer all-out war with all-out war.

Overpowered by the DPRK's tough stand, the U.S. could not but make an apology for the spying activities and hostilities and sign a document stating that any American ship would no longer intrude into the DPRK's territorial waters.

However, it let a large-sized spy plane EC-121 and a spy helicopter OAH-23G fly into the DPRK's airspace respectively in April and August 1969.

The Korean People's Army decisively gunned down them.

The U.S. has never stopped pursuing hostile policy toward the DPRK. Under "OPLAN 5029" and other war scenarios, it is every year staging such DPRK-targeted war exercises as Ulji Freedom Guardian, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.

Those hell bent on confrontation and war moves are doomed to self-destruction. The U.S. should behave with discretion, mindful of the bitter lessons it suffered in the past years.