Stills from "Common Security Zone"
Related Reading:
The 1968 U.S.-North Korea Crisis of pueblo nearly detonated the Second Korean War
Between 1968 and 1969, the Korean Peninsula experienced tensions rarely seen since the armistice, with armed conflict between the North and the South, and the second Korean War at a critical point of outbreak.
First, in January 1968, North Korean commandos attacked the Blue House in an attempt to take out South Korean President Park Chung-hee.
A few days later, the North Korean Navy captured the U.S. reconnaissance ship Pueblo and captured 82 crew members, causing an 11-month-long Pueblo crisis.
In November, North Korea sent a 120-man commando team to land on South Korea's east coast to prepare for guerrilla warfare, but was completely annihilated by the United States and South Korea.
Stills from "Real Tail Island"
In April 1969, the North Korean Air Force shot down a U.S. EC-121 reconnaissance and early warning aircraft, killing 31 U.S. troops.
In August of the same year, North Korea shot down a U.S. helicopter that had broken into its airspace and captured three U.S. pilots.
South Korea was extremely angry about this, and President Park Chung-hee repeatedly clamored for revenge, but he did not speak up to the use of it - everything depends on what the Americans mean.
Interestingly, in the face of North Korea's provocations, the attitude of the United States is basically tolerable, although there is no shortage of tough voices in the UNITED States and the opposition against North Korea, but from Johnson to Nixon, the two US presidents have swallowed their anger and stepped on the brakes to prevent the outbreak of war.
Earlier, we talked about the "Blue House Incident" and the "Pueblo" crisis, and today we talk about the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft incident.
EC-121
01
The story begins with the Pueblo crisis.
In the "Pueblo" crisis, north Korea seized The Us spy ship, arrested the American crew, and made the United States very faceless, thinking that the United States would carry out large-scale retaliation, but the United States only sent some additional troops to south Korea, hoping to put pressure on North Korea.
North Korea is not afraid at all, the leader of the big hand, the whole country began to carry out a general mobilization, the army adjusted to a state of emergency, warning the United States: retaliation to answer retaliation, all-out war to answer all-out war!
As a result, the Johnson administration instigated and could only go to great lengths to demand the release of the American crew from North Korea during lengthy negotiations.
In the end, the matter ended with a U.S. apology and North Korea releasing the American crew.
Obviously, for the DPRK, this is a great victory in the anti-US struggle, which has greatly boosted the morale of the Korean people and ruthlessly destroyed the prestige of US imperialism.
Doing this kind of thing once will eat the bones and know the essence, and the DPRK will certainly have to advance inches and launch more fierce provocations, pushing the victory over US imperialism to one climax after another.
Capture of the Pueblo
They believe that since the United States instigated the "Pueblo" incident, it will also instigate and fight in the next provocation.
The Blue House incident, which was done by the Army, and the Pueblo incident, was done by the Navy, both of which achieved "great results" and were highly praised by the leaders.
The Air Force's psychology is relatively sour, eager to try, and wants to do a big thing to prove itself.
This time, they selected the U.S. EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
After the Pueblo incident, the United States stopped spying on North Korea from the sea and increased its aerial intelligence gathering operations — mainly EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
The EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft, improved from the C-121 transport aircraft developed by the US military during World War II, has a maximum level flight speed of 517 km / h, a maximum range of 7405 km, and can carry 20 or 30 crew members.
EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft
Usually, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft took off from Atsugi Air Base near Tokyo, Japan, headed north to Vladivosk to gather intelligence on the Soviet Pacific Fleet, then traveled south along the coastline to conduct reconnaissance of eastern Korea, and finally returned to the base.
It takes about 10 hours to come and go.
In theory, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft is safe in reconnaissance activities in the Sea of Japan.
The EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft can both reconnoiter and warn, it is equipped with the most cutting-edge radar, accurate scanning radius of up to 400 kilometers, can detect danger in advance, sneak away.
In the area where the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft is active, the Soviet Union will not do anything to it (the matter is larger, the big country is more exquisite), and the DPRK wants to do it but is unable to do it, because the US military has deployed a strong radar surveillance network at bases in South Korea and Japan, and the Korean warplanes will be tracked by the US military radar when they fly together.
MiG-17
North Korea's old MiG-15 and MiG-17, although far faster than EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft, have limited performance and range, making it difficult to catch up with.
By 1969, the U.S. Navy and Air Force had carried out nearly 190 aviation reconnaissance activities off the east coast of North Korea, except for the 1965 interception of the RB-47 reconnaissance aircraft by the North Korean MiG-17.
Therefore, the Americans think it is safe to do this.
02
The outbreak of an event is often the result of a combination of factors.
In March and April 1969, the U.S.-RoK coalition held a large-scale military exercise code-named "Focus Perspective." During this period, the US and ROK armies used North Korea as a hypothetical enemy and used various sophisticated weapons to show off their skills and play cool.
North-South confrontation
Through this exercise, the United States wants to reaffirm the will of the United States to defend South Korea, and at the same time, it also has the intention of warning North Korea.
However, in North Korea's view, this is a naked threat of force.
Originally, it was particularly eager to provoke trouble, but now the opponent is still constantly stimulating, and the North Korean anger value is instantaneously full, determined to punish the provocations of the United States and South Korea by force.
On April 15, the leader's birthday (sun festival after 1997), the army hoped to take the American army to open the knife and present the leader with a victory.
It is obviously unwise to directly attack the US military south of the 38th Line, first, the US military in South Korea is too vigilant and too difficult, and the other is that it is easy to play around, leading to an all-out war - this is not what North Korea wants to see.
Comparatively speaking, the risk of attacking U.S. troops in Japan will be much smaller. In particular, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft, which is active in the Sea of Japan, conducts military reconnaissance of The DPRK from time to time from the air, which makes the DPRK itch with hatred.
Stills from "Iron Rain"
In this way, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft became a sacrifice for the North Korean Air Force to pay tribute to the leader.
The goal is selected, the time is roughly set, and the next question is how to achieve the goal.
The MiG-15 and MiG-17 were clearly not on the job, but at this time North Korea had acquired a small number of MiG-21s from the Soviet Union.
The MiG-21 is known for its excellent high-altitude and high-speed performance, which is characterized by its lightness, flexibility, fast climbing, simple equipment, and easy maneuvering, and is known as the AK-47 in aircraft.
In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese side took advantage of the high mobility of the MiG-21 to fight "guerrilla warfare in the air", which caused a lot of pressure on the US military, all of which was seen by the North Korean pilots who participated in the vietnam aid operation - during the Vietnam War, the DPRK sent more than 800 pilots to North Vietnam.
MiG-21
North Korea's MiG-21s were deployed at the Bukchang base in South Pyongan Province, and the best starting point for intercepting EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft was at the Yulang base in North Hamgyong Province.
If the MiG-21 were to fly directly to the Fisherman's base, it would certainly be discovered by a U.S. spy satellite.
In order to hide the sky from the sea, the North Koreans dismantled the two MiG-21s into parts, transported them to the caves at the Yulang base with a train transporting ore, and then assembled them. This was all done in top secret.
Meanwhile, Japanese cleaners employed by North Korean intelligence near Atsugi Atsugi Air Base have been recording the take-off and landing times of EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
Carrying out the mission was Colonel Hyun Ki-so, then an authority on North Korean air combat technology, and a major pilot.
Hyun Ki-so piloted a long plane, and the major pilot piloted a wingman, using a two-plane formation to attack.
03
Through radar and intelligence, the NORTH Korean Air Force grasped the flight schedule and flight trajectory of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft, and selected the interception location 152 kilometers off the coast of Chiang-Jin, which is the closest place to the Yulang base in the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft's flight trajectory.
This means that once the MiG-21 approaches the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft at high speed, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft will not have time to escape even if it detects it.
At noon on April 15, 1969, two MiG-21s took off and were quickly detected and locked by U.S. radar.
In order to avoid the smell-sensitive U.S. radar, the MiG-21 only maintained a short period of high-altitude flight, and then flew close to the sea surface for ultra-low altitude flight, they cut off radio contact with the base, turned off the airborne radar, and swooped towards the destination in silence.
Sure enough, the MiG-21 disappeared from the U.S. radar screen.
The site of the Pueblo and EC-121 accidents
By the time the MiG-21s reappeared on the radar screen, they had finished their ultra-low-altitude flight and quickly climbed to an altitude of 3,000 meters.
At this point, fools can see that these 2 MiG-21s are coming for the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
The U.S. military command immediately sent a three-level warning to the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft that was on a mission, and the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft replied: confirm that the warning was received, we will cancel the mission and return to the base immediately.
However, it was all too late.
Two MiG-21s each fired an air-to-air missile, and the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft was hit in the tail, caught fire, and fell into the sea.
Shoot down the imaginary screen of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft
After the EC-121 reconnaissance plane disappeared from the radar screen, the U.S. military command realized that something was wrong and sent 2 fighters to the accident area to search.
But there is nothing on the surface of the sea except rough seas.
Soon, the U.S. military organized a larger search and rescue operation, and when the search and rescue forces rushed to the accident area again, they found 2 Soviet destroyers - the Soviet Union learned of this and instructed the 2 destroyers that were patrolling in the western Pacific Ocean to rush to the accident area to help the Americans search for survivors.
U.S. aircraft took aerial photographs to confirm that the floating debris salvaged by the Soviet destroyer was the wreckage of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
The Soviet destroyer handed over the wreckage to the U.S. search and rescue force, saying no survivors had been found.
Since then, the US military has also recovered the wreckage of the plane and found the remains of 2 crew members, but the remaining 29 people are missing.
Posters
After the incident, North Korea admitted that it had done it, claiming that the US plane violated North Korean airspace and tried to escape, and the North Korean side shot it down 80 nautical miles from its coast.
The U.S. Department of Defense countered that the width of north Korea's declared territorial waters was 12 nautical miles, while the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft flew 50 nautical miles off the north Korean coast and did not violate North Korean airspace. The North Korean attack was illegal and a provocative act.
The EC-121 reconnaissance plane incident was a very serious international incident in which the United States, North Korea, and the associated Soviet Union and South Korea were all involved, and if they were not handled well, they could trigger the second Korean War.
04
1969 was Nixon's first year in office.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he came up, North Korea gave him a dismount. Both Nixon and his aide, Kissinger, see this as the first major crisis the new administration has faced since taking office.
Nixon and Kissinger
How would Nixon handle this?
Americans generally believe that the president will retaliate against North Korea by taking harsh military action.
A year ago, the Pueblo incident broke out, and Nixon, as the presidential candidate, slammed the Johnson administration for weakness.
"At present, the dignity of the United States has been so damaged that a fourth-rate military state like North Korea has dared to seize American ships on the high seas," he said. It is time for a new leader to restore American dignity. ”
As can be seen from these remarks, Nixon belonged to the hawkish faction.
After the EC-121 reconnaissance plane incident, Nixon's first reaction was that violence must be answered with violence.
But at the White House meeting on April 16, serious divisions emerged in the Cabinet.
Vice President Agnew, National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Wheeler, Attorney General Mitchell and others advocated military retaliation, and the military also proposed many counterattack plans.
Kissinger told Nixon that although there are certain risks in counterattacking, it may force North Korea to reconcile, and if it does not fight back, North Korea will think that the United States is weak and can be bullied.
Secretary of State Rogers, Secretary of Defense Laird, CIA Director Helms, and others opposed military action and advocated a negotiated settlement.
The opposition argues that military retaliation would affect U.S. warfare in Vietnam, trigger a larger wave of anti-war, and could even spur a war between the two Koreas (the Park Chung-hee government instigated the United States to launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea), leading to the outbreak of the Second Korean War.
Rogers and Laird threaten nixon that if the president retaliates militarily, they will resign.
Both for and for, there is a certain truth, Nixon is very entangled.
At this point, he understood the difficulty of being in charge.
Nixon
When he was not president, he could make an international mouth and clamor for war without any responsibility, and now that he is president, he has to think about it holistically, look ahead, and be careful in his words and deeds.
To be, or not to be, that is the question.
Nixon couldn't make up his mind.
He is eager to teach North Korea a lesson in military action, and he wants to limit the escalation of military conflicts and avoid the outbreak of all-out war. But where in the world are there so many things that have the best of both worlds?
North Korea is vigorously publicizing the downing of US reconnaissance planes, regarding it as another major victory over US imperialism, and the whole people are intoxicated.
At this time, if the United States rushed up to him and slapped him, no one could predict that he would do anything even crazier.
Nixon spoke to the soldiers
The United States is already deeply involved in the Vietnam battlefield, the domestic anti-war movement is higher than the wave, and it is obviously unwise to detonate the Korean War at this time.
It should be noted that the biggest opponent of the United States is the Soviet Union, and if the United States is caught in the quagmire of two wars at the same time, the Soviets must be the happiest.
05
Thinking about it, Nixon still decided to swallow this breath and bear with the words.
On April 17, Nixon ordered the resumption of reconnaissance flights escorted by fighter jets in waters near North Korea.
This order is a bit inexplicable, but it is the official attitude of the United States to the EC-121 reconnaissance plane incident, sending two signals: the United States will not admit it, and the United States will not retaliate by force.
On April 18, at a meeting of the Military Armistice Committee at Panmunjom, the U.S. representative read out a U.S. statement on the EC-121 reconnaissance plane incident, accusing North Korea of not speaking martial arts and sneaking up on u.S. reconnaissance planes, and demanding that North Korea take appropriate measures to prevent similar things from happening — which is roughly nonsense.
In 1964, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, the nuclear-powered cruiser Long Beach, and the nuclear-powered destroyer Bainbridge formed a formation and sailed around the world
To show that he was not doing nothing, on April 19, Nixon also ordered Task Force 71 to the Sea of Japan to show off its force. Task Force 71 includes the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, the aircraft carriers Ticonderoga and Commandos, and 23 other cruisers and destroyers.
But this trick has already been used in the Pueblo crisis, and it does not work for North Korea, but is regarded as a poor donkey.
Why did Nixon swallow his anger? In his own words: the real problem is to risk a second war, and the public will not buy this account.
He also instructed Kissinger that as long as we get involved in Vietnam, we will not only have no resources to deal with another war elsewhere, but we will not also have public support.
U.S. troops on the battlefield in Vietnam
At this time, Nixonism was brewing, and the core of Nixonism was that the United States should shrink its overseas power, and Asian allies should manage themselves, unless they were threatened by nuclear weapons, and under normal circumstances the United States would not intervene.
Obviously, the use of force against North Korea runs counter to Nixonism.
Finally, the Soviet Union was seeking détente with the United States, and it did not want North Korea to go to war with the United States and to involve itself – North Korea did not inform the Soviet Union in advance.
After the incident, the Soviet Union actively helped the United States to recover the wreckage and search for survivors, which was actually a disguised relief, and Nixon was very grateful for this.
If the United States insists on acting against North Korea, according to the pact, the Soviet Union cannot stay out of the matter, and the two superpowers directly confront each other, and the consequences are very serious.
Nixon and Brezhnev
Based on these considerations, Nixon instigated.
On the South Korean side, Park Chung-hee originally wanted to take advantage of this incident to join hands with the United States to attack North Korea and unify the peninsula. After Nixon confessed, Park Chung-hee was furious, accusing the U.S. government of being weak and refusing to send more South Korean troops into the Vietnamese battlefield. Relations between the two countries deteriorated.
On the other hand, the whole country of North Korea was greatly encouraged by the shooting down of the US plane, and the overwhelming cries drowned out everything. The leader wrote in his writings: If you attack us, we will attack you... If the American devils dare to start a war, let's compete.
【References】
North Korea Shoots Down U.S. EC-121 Reconnaissance Plane
"U.S. Reaction to North Korea's Downing of Reconnaissance Aircraft in 1969"
"South Korea's Response to North Korea's Shooting Down of a US EC-121 Reconnaissance Plane
The United States and the EC-121 Crisis: A Study of the 1969 North Korean Shooting Down of a Large U.S. Reconnaissance Aircraft