--- title: "The USS Pueblo is now the main attraction at North Korea’s Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum" date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/the-uss-pueblo-is-now-the-main-attraction-at-north-koreas-victorious-fatherland-liberation-war-museum/" categories: - "History" - "Navy" tags: - "North Korea" --- # The USS Pueblo is now the main attraction at North Korea’s Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum ![]() For the uninitiated, the USS *Pueblo* was a Navy Signals Intelligence ship which was attacked and boarded by North Koreans in international waters in 1968. The crew didn't just give up; they deftly maneuvered away from the attackers. It took two North Korean --- It took two North Korean subchasers, four torpedo boats, and two MiG fighters to stop *Pueblo*, even allowing for the fact that the crew didn't man the ship's guns due to restrictive Navy regulations. The crew destroyed all the classified material they could, but they were simply outgunned and outnumbered. One sailor was killed and eighty-three others were held by North Korea for 335 days before being returned to the U.S. ![]() *And they took the time to let the North Koreans know how they felt about their stay.* The *Pueblo* is still commissioned in the U.S. Navy and is the only ship to be held by an enemy country. For decades, the ship was moored on the Taedong River in the capital of Pyongyang. After a restoration begun in 2013, [the ship is now a part of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum]() in keeping with the North Korean label for the war. ![]() *Seriously though, the U.S. really flattened North Korea.* ### Related: [I went to North Korea and saw the US Navy ship still being held captive after 47 years ]() The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum was founded right after the 1953 armistice was signed. (Note: The U.S. is still technically at war with North Korea as the armistice ended the conflict but not the Korean War.) As Communists often do, the North Koreans wanted to put their spin on the war immediately, and thus the museum was born. Ten years later, it was moved to a building built just to house the museum's collection, a massive trove of North Korean tanks, weapons, and aircraft, along with captured American equipment, jeeps, and downed planes, all supporting the North's consensus that they actually won. ![]() *This is how they believe the Korean War looked.* Of course, with the *Pueblo* comes the newest exhibit in the Museum, the *Pueblo* section. ![]() If you're wondering how the war became a "*liberation*" war to the North, young [North Koreans are taught]() that a joint South Korean-U.S. army started the war, and not that it was started by a North Korean sneak attack. The North is not likely to return the ship, considering how immensely proud they are of having captured it. ![]() *The Pueblo on the Taedong River in 2012* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()