HARD-LINE NORTH KOREANS REVIVE TENSION WITH US

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06759860
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2018
• Case Number: F-2018-00295
• Publication Date: April 18, 1969

Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
DIRECTORATE OF
OF
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY SU
-Seatiet
N� 42.
ig April 1969
No. 0366/69
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
The WEEKLY SUMMARY, issued every Friday morning by the
Office of Current Intelligence, reports and analyzes significant
developments of the week through noon on. Thursday. It fre-
quently includes material coordinated with or prepared by the
Office of Economic Research. the Office of Strategic Research,.
and the Directorate of Science and Technology. Topics requir-
ing more comprehensive treatment and therefore published sep-
arately as Special Reports arc listed in the contents pages.
WARNING
The WEEKLY SUMMARY contains classified information af-
fecting the national security of the United States, within the
meaning of Title 18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of ii:s contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
DISSEMINATION CONTROLS
The WEEKLY SUMMARY MUST NOT EE RELEASED TO
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS and must be handled within the
framework of specific dissemination control provisions of
DCID 1/7.
utGROUP 1
Endudod from aomatic
downgrading and
dadossification
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
SECRET
CONTENTS
(Information as of noon EST, 17 April 1969)
Far East
Page
HARD-LINE NORTH KOREANS REVIVE TENSION WITH -US
North Korea's shootdown of a US reconnaissance air-
craft over the Sea of Japan has all the earmarks of
a deliberate action designed to revive an atmosphere
of high tension with the US.
Page � WEEKLY SUMMARY 18 Apr 69
7
NR Record
NR Record
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
-SEER-ET--
FAR EAST
The North Korean shootdown of a US reconnaissance aircraft over
international waters appears to have been a deliberate action designed to
revive a high level of tension with the US. In light of its experience in the
Pueblo affair, the Kim II-song regime apparently saw a relatively low-risk
opportunity to score another propaganda triumph that would offset the
failure of its pressure campaign against South Korea. North Korea's imme-
diate call for a Military Armistice Commission meeting probably was in-
tended to forestall US retaliation and to provide a propaganda forum for
further charges of US aggression.
South Korean reaction to the incident has indicated an immediate
concern over US resolve to deal firmly with North Korean attacks. In Japan,
on the other hand, concern has been expressed that Japan might become
embroiled in a Korean conflict.
In South Vietnam, main force Communist units continue to refit in
sanctuary and border base areas. The enemy has, however, sought to cover
his general disengagement by launching a few heavy attacks against outlying
targets. In Paris, meanwhile, the Vietnamese Communists are sending out
mixed signals, probably in an effort to suggest sonic flexibility on their part
without actually abandoning any of their maximum positions.
After two weeks, the Chinese Communists have announced only that
their ninth party congress has "unanimously" approved the new party
constitution and the political report given by Mao's heir apparent, Lin Piao.
Peking has announced that discussions leading up to the election of a new
central committee did not begin until 15 April, suggesting that differences
between the various party factions still have not been settled.
An increasing willingness on the part of local Cambodian officials to act
on long-standing instructions to limit Communist activities along the border
with Vietnam reflects Phnom Penh's growing preoccupation with the prob-
lem of the Communist presence. The change in the Cambodian attitude is
largely a result of heavier fighting along the border and increasing Commu-
nist encroachments in the southern half of Cambodia over the past several
years.
Page 1
WEEKLY SUMMARY
18 Apr 69
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860
,CR
HARD-LINE NORTH KOREANS REVIVE TENSION WITH US
North Korea's shootdown of
a US reconnaissance aircraft over
the Sea of Japan has all the ear-
marks of a deliberate action de-
signed to revive an atmosphere
of high tension with the US.
In light of the Pueblo ex-
perience, North Korean Premier
Kim Il-song probably saw the at-
tack on April 15 as a relatively
low-risk opportunity to intensify
the propaganda campaign against
"US aggressive designs" and to
undermine the credibility of US
strength in the area. The Pyong-
yang leadership probably believes
that a considerable body of world
opinion is likely to be recep-
tive to their claim that the air-
craft had violated North Korean
airspace.
The attack also enables the
hard-line North Korean leadership
to focus domestic attention on
this challenge to US power rather
than on Pyongyang's frustrating
inability to launch a so-called
"people's war" in the South, or
to keep pace with the economic
progress of South Korea. Pyong-
yang may also have been looking
for a riposte to the joint US -
South Korean "Focus Retina" mil-
itary exercise last month. Ear-
lier they had reacted by initiat-
ing harassments in the Demili-
tarized Zone and by adopting a
more belligerent posture in block-
ing routine boundary-marker re-
placement actions by the United
Nations Command.
Page 7
Incidents such as the shoot-
down permit Kil Il-song effec-
tively to upstage Moscow and Pe-
king as well as to score points
for his personal and nationalist
self-assertion. He has created
an effective contrast between
North Korean boldness and the cau-
tion of Peking and Moscow in con-
fronting the power of the US.
North Korea has long insisted on
the importance of the smaller
countries in the Communist move-
ment, to the point of strained
relations with Moscow and Peking.
A major theme of North Korean
propaganda, particularly since
the Pueblo incident, is that a
determined small nation can de-
feat a "mighty imperialist."
Within hours of the shoot-
down of the US aircraft, Pyong-
yang called for a meeting of the
Military Armistice Commission on
18 April. The apparent aim is
to portray North Korea as the ag-
grieved party, reduce the likeli-
hood of US retaliation, and use
the proposed meeting as a propa-
ganda forum.
In April 1965, North Korean
fighter aircraft attacked--but
failed to shoot down--an RB-47
aircraft about 50 nautical miles
off North Korea over the Sea of
Japan. In the past, numerous US
reconnaissance missions have been
flown in this same general area,
but there has been little North
Korea reaction
WEEKLY SUM MARY
18 Apr 69
Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C06759860