After the rescue of the Dai Hong Dan, the North Korean government issued a statement praising the United States—probably the only time it has ever done so.

On October 29, 2007, the North Korean cargo ship MV Dai Hong Dan was sailing northeast along the Somali coast, having departed the port at Mogadishu earlier that day. The ship had delivered a cargo of sugar from India, and was now headed home empty.

As evening fell, a small motor-powered skiff overtook the Dai Hong Dan. The motorboat’s seven occupants asked permission to board, announcing they were a Somali government security force sent to protect the ship from the pirates that were so ubiquitous in those waters.

North Korean Captain Park Yong-hwan, an experienced merchant seaman, gave his permission, and the Somalis boarded his ship. The captain and crew were then surprised to find themselves held at gunpoint and herded to the engine room, where they were placed under guard. The supposed “security force” was in fact a gang of opportunistic pirates, who had helped to unload the ship’s cargo days earlier in Mogadishu and determined that it was virtually undefended.

Before the ship’s capture, its crew managed to send a distress signal and stop the engines, leaving it dead in the water. The pirates radioed a demand for $15,000 from the ship’s owner—in this case the North Korean government—in return for the crew’s safe return, and threatened to kill their 22 hostages should the demand not be met.

The US Navy Will Rescue You from Pirates, No Matter Who You Are

The International Maritime Organization in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia received the Dai Hong Dan’s distress signal. At that time, Somali piracy was at its height—costing the global economy millions of dollars per year in protection fees and ransom payments and leading some shipping companies to avoid the Horn of Africa altogether. Somalia’s strategic location and general atmosphere of lawlessness gave pirates a convenient base of operations with easy access to ships moving through the Red Sea, as well as coastal routes to India and the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, warships patrolled the area to protect commerce, but they were often forced to react to incidents rather than preventing them.

It was one of those warships that the IMO radioed for help next. The nearest vessel to the Dai Hong Dan was the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS James E. Williams, named for the Navy’s most decorated enlisted man. Captain Timothy R. Trampenau dispatched his ship’s helicopter to investigate and set course for the Dai Hong Dan, some 50 nautical miles away.

The helicopter confirmed the Dai Hong Dan’s position, and the James E. Williams arrived the following morning. Trampenau demanded the pirates’ surrender.

Accounts differ as to what happened next, but it seems the pirates were understandably distracted by the appearance of a US Navy warship, giving the crew an opportunity to fight back. The Dai Hong Dan’s crew rushed some of their guards, overpowered them, and seized their weapons. A brief firefight ensued, after which the crew regained control of their ship. One pirate was killed and at least one more wounded. At least three, and possibly as many as six, North Korean sailors were wounded in the fight.

The official North Korean version of events asserts that their sailors had resisted the pirates from the very start of the attack, but the pirates did not surrender until the James E. Williams arrived. Unlikely as that story is, it frames the regime’s preferred narrative. (One could say, of course, that the distress call and stopping the engines were acts of resistance.)

Two North Korean defectors, commenting on the incident, stated that the crew’s action against the pirates might have been instigated by the political officers who always accompany North Korean sailors (and any other citizens) abroad. Indeed, they said, not fighting back against the pirates would probably have led to public disgrace and severe punishment once the sailors eventually returned home. But an overnight standoff against heavily armed pirates is hard to believe.

In any case, Captain Trampenau sent over a Navy Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team, which boarded with permission from Captain Park. The VBSS team provided medical assistance and took custody of the surviving pirates. That team included US Navy sailor Roy Park, a second-generation Korean-American who was fluent in Korean. Park served as an interpreter, easing the communication between the two crews.

The James E. Williams took aboard three North Korean sailors for more advanced treatment of their wounds, after which they were returned to the Dai Hong Dan.

North Korea Thanked America for Its Help (Through Gritted Teeth)

The US Navy’s timely assistance prompted a highly unusual response from North Korea’s then-dictator, Kim Jong-il. The Korean Central News Agency, the official mouthpiece of the Kim regime, released a statement expressing the regime’s gratitude for the Americans’ timely intervention.

“We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen,” the government wrote. “This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK-US cooperation in the struggle against terrorism. We will continue to render international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, in the future, too.”

Kim’s statement fostered brief hope of a thaw in US-North Korean relations. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill responded: “You will always find our Navy prepared to help any ship in distress. I hope the DPRK understands that we do this out of a sense of goodwill.”

Sadly, relations never really improved—probably unsurprising, given the North Korean state’s despotic tendencies and its provocative foreign policy toward its neighbors on the Korean Peninsula, along with Japan and the United States. A shared pirate rescue was never likely to change any of these underlying issues.

Still, a brutal dictator like Kim Jong-il issuing such a statement shows even that nations who are still technically at war can perhaps find some common ground. Or maybe it’s just an example of the age-old axiom that the enemy of your enemy, no matter how hostile, can sometimes be your friend.

About the Author: William Lawson

William Lawson is a military historian focusing on World War II and 20^th century conflicts and the American Civil War. His specialty is operational level warfare, especially American amphibious doctrine. He writes on history, politics, and firearms for multiple publications and historical journals. He serves on the editorial advisory board for the Saber & Scroll Journal and Military History Chronicles and is a member of the Society for Military History and the American Historical Association. Lawson is based in Virginia.

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