THE EC121 INCIDENT
The EC-121 Incident of April 15, 1969
On April 15, 1969, less than half a year since the settlement of the Pueblo Incident, the US imperialists committed another grave military provocation by sending their large-sized spy plane EC-121 equipped with electronic devices deep into the air space of the DPRK to conduct a hostile espionage act. A north Korean MIG-21 scrambled and fired an air-to-air guided missile at the EC-121, shooting it down into the sea, and killing all of its crewmen (they were all buried in the sea). The day was the birthday of President Kim Il Sung and north Korea was in a festive mood.
It was a national holiday and north Korea might have connived at such a violation by the US air force of its air space. The US plane might have been off its guard. Moreover, judging by common sense, up to that time no country had ever attempted to shoot down a US war plane.
North Korea was an exception, however. No sooner had the violation of north Korean air space by this plane been detected than the anti-aircraft headquarters of north Korea ordered the air force to intercept it. As soon as its radar picked up the enemy plane, the MIG-21 that had scrambled launched an air-to-air missile, which unerringly hit its target.
North Korea never tolerates any intrusion by the US military forces into either its territorial waters or its air space. The US noisily, insisted that the reconnaissance plane was attacked over the international waters, and menaced north Korea with “nuclear reprisals and all-out air-raids on all its air force bases.
Upon the report of this incident Nixon and Kissinger called the National Security Council to examine the plan for 'punitive' bombing of north Korea. Both Nixon and Kissinger strongly insisted on taking hard-line measures, namely, the bombing of north Korea by US war planes.
The Nixon administration hastily dispatched an aircraft-carrier task force to Korean waters. The task force included the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, the aircraft carriers Ticonderoga and Ranger, and the anti-submarine aircraft carrier Hornet. The battleship New Jersey, too, sailed as escort for the spy planes. Several hundred bombers and fighter-bombers were flown to south Korea and put on alert. The number of aircraft carriers was four, one more than that at the time of the Pueblo incidentâ€.
North Korea warned the US that all those who invaded its airspace would meet their doom like the crewmen of the EC-121 spy plane.
Then, an unexpected event occurred. Defence Secretary Laird and Secretary of State Rogers expressed strong opposition, saying that most of the US planes sent to attack north Korea would be shot down, and the US military forces would suffer serious damage. In the end, the persons in charge of military and diplomatic affairs 'blackmailed' Nixon and Kissinger, saving north Korea the trouble of doing so. Consequently, the United States had no alternative but to give up its idea of reprisal against north Korea. Daunted by the firm attitude of north Korea, the US could not but stealthily pull out its huge armed forces including four aircraft carriers from the neighborhood of the Korean peninsula.